About Us
- Our Strategic Plans
- Our Freedom of Information Request (FOIA) Policy
- A Note to Virginians on Voting, Voting Rights and Modern Election Laws
- Our services and what we do
The State Board of Elections (SBE) was created in 1946 as a bipartisan agency responsible for ensuring uniformity, fairness, accuracy and purity in all elections in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The agency promotes the proper administration of election laws, campaign finance disclosure compliance, and voter registration processes in Virginia by promulgating rules, regulations, issuing instructions, and providing information to local electoral boards and general registrars. In addition, the agency maintains a centralized database of state-wide voter registration and election related data.
The State Board of Elections major activities include:
Voter Registration Services
Election Administration Services
Aid to Localities
Election Staff and Official Training
Administration of Campaign Finance Disclosure Laws
The State Board of Elections establishes and implements policies and procedures used to properly register voters and maintain voter registration records. In meeting its legal responsibilities of ensuring uniformity, fairness, and legality of the registration processes, the board operates and administers a computerized central record-keeping system (the Virginia Voter Registration System) of all voters registered in the Commonwealth. The Board itself does not register voters but supervises and coordinates the work of local election officials, who carry out registration activities in their jurisdiction.
The Virginia Voter Registration System maintains a complete, separate, and accurate record of all registered voters in the Commonwealth. The system is accessible to all local registrars and their staff who are required to change or correct registration records. In addition to maintaining individual registration records, the Virginia Voter Registration System generates voter information cards. The voter information cards are used to confirm registration for new registrants and to notify current registrants of changes or corrections to their record.
Prior to each general, primary or special election, the board provides each registrar with a computer generated list of all registered voters in their jurisdiction, and an alphabetical list of all registered voters in each precinct of the county, city, or town. The precinct list is the official list of qualified voters. The law requires the State Board of Elections to compile and distribute registration reports and statistics for the entire state. These reports and statistics are provided, at a reasonable cost, to legally qualified purchasers including candidates, incumbents, political parties, courts, and non-profit organizations that promote voter registration or participation.
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Election
Administration Services
This activity promotes and ensures uniformity in procedures and proceedings, and legality and purity in the election processes through supervising and coordinating the work of the county and city electoral boards and registrars. Through this activity, the board establishes regulations and issues instructions and other information to the local electoral boards and registrars to promote the proper execution of election laws.
In its efforts to foster and maintain uniformity, accuracy and legality in election related proceedings, this activity performs the following essential functions:
Produces and distributes instructions and forms to
individuals who wish to qualify as candidates for any office in
Virginia.
Qualifies or disqualifies candidates for nomination
or
election to federal, statewide, General Assembly and shared
constitutional
offices based on verification of petitions and other
required filings; verifies
completeness of filings for certified
candidates for local offices; processes
political party certifications
of nominating methods and nominees.
Reviews all paper and machine ballot combinations in the state for legal compliance.
Conducts a precinct by precinct review and verification of the results of all elections for nomination or election to offices certified by the board and of the results of all statewide referenda; resolves precinct or locality errors in the returns; certifies results.
Conducts voting equipment reviews and tests for the purpose of certifying equipment eligible for use in the state; reviews, and approves or not, all prospective purchases of new or additional voting equipment by local jurisdictions.
Publishes and distributes the following public information: official lists of candidates and winners for every election in the state; sample ballots for statewide elections or referenda; the official election results, by precinct and locality, for the November general elections and any statewide primary elections; election schedules and calendars; legal requirements for referendum elections; brochures, posters and legal notices containing the ballot question and approved explanation for any proposed constitutional amendments and legal notices containing the ballot question and project listings for any proposed statewide bond referenda.
Monitors local compliance with federal and state polling place accessibility requirements; reports biennially to the federal government on the accessibility or inaccessibility of polling places in the state.
Provides copies of candidate forms and petitions filed with the Board for inspection or purchase by any legally qualified individual.
This activity is primarily responsible for reimbursing local governments for the compensation paid to local registrars and the compensation and mileage paid to local electoral board members. The State Board of Elections annually calculates and sets the days of service for 134 general registrars. Compensation for the general registrars is set by the General Assembly in the Appropriations Act based on local population. Compensation for the Electoral Board members is set based on local population and the number of towns (if any) in the locality as set forth in the Appropriations Act.
In addition, assistance is provided to the localities in the form of data circuits provided by and paid for the State Board of Elections. These circuits connects the registrar's office to the centralized voter registration system.
Election Staff & Official Training
In carrying out its responsibilities of ensuring uniformity and legality in election practices, the Board conducts annual training seminars for electoral board members and general registrars.
The seminars are instructional sessions that last approximately two days. The seminars are used as a tool to ensure that election officials fully understand the legal requirements of the election laws. It is also the platform used to train and familiarize new registrars in current election proceedings and registration practices. Anticipated changes in policies and procedures are normally introduced during these sessions.
Administration of Campaign Finance Disclosure Laws
The State Board of Elections administers the Campaign Finance Disclosure Act. The Campaign Finance Disclosure Act requires the State Board of Elections to review campaign finance disclosure reports for completeness and compliance with filing deadlines.
This activity summarizes the provisions of the election laws relating to campaign contributions and expenditures and distributes this summary along with prescribed forms to each candidate, person, or committee on request or upon their first filing with the Board. To assist persons filing reports, these summaries include instructions, forms, filing schedules, and reporting requirements required to comply with the Act .
The Campaign Finance Disclosure reports are filed and maintained for at least one year after the final report is filed, or through the next general election. In addition, these reports are made available for inspection by any person requesting them.
The Board has the authority to assess civil penalties to any person(s) who are found to be in violation of any provisions of the Act.
Board Members:
Chairman: Jean Cunningham
Vice-Chair: Harold Pyon
Secretary: Nancy Rodrigues
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