Virginia Department of Elections' Statement on New Campaign Highlighting Virginia’s Election Security Initiatives

The Virginia Department of Elections announced today the launch of “Defending Democracy” as part of the Department’s new marketing campaign, which conveys its commitment to election security.

The “Defending Democracy” campaign includes a series of communications featuring members of Virginia’s elections community, including local and state election workers who are key to helping administer elections. The campaign also includes radio, digital video and banners, and social advertising that similarly conveys the Department’s commitment to ensuring election integrity. Examples of the ads from the campaign can be seen here.

Virginians should feel confident that their votes will be counted accurately. The Department of Elections has worked to remove unsecure voting systems from service at the local level and promoted the transition to modern voting systems using voter verified paper-based balloting. Furthermore, the equipment voters use to cast their ballots in Virginia are not connected to the Internet.

“During a time when our society is being overwhelmed by so much misinformation, we are committed to ensuring that we let Virginians know that they can trust the elections process”, said Christopher Piper, Commissioner for the Virginia Department of Elections. “We are thrilled to have a campaign that highlights the work of the Commonwealth’s elections community”.

Ensuring the integrity of our elections has always been and will continue to be a top priority for election officials across the Commonwealth.

“Protecting the vote is Defending our Democracy”, said Piper. “We want Virginians to know that protecting elections is an ongoing process and we are honored to serve the Commonwealth by doing so.”

SECURING YOUR VOTE

The Department of Elections encourages voters to take the following steps to help promote election security and voter confidence:

• Check your voter registration status to ensure that it is current and/or find your polling place. Virginia provides a secure way for Virginia voters to access their registration information through our citizen portal: https://www.elections.virginia.gov/citizen-portal/.
• Only utilize trusted sources such as state and county agencies for election information.