The Virginia Board of Elections officially completed the state’s vote counting and reviewing process Wednesday, certifying the final results of Virginia’s 2020 general election in a unanimous vote.
The board began the process on Monday, Nov 16, but was missing the official vote tally from the City of Richmond -- meaning they couldn’t certify any races that included the city.
That ruled out the presidency and vice presidency, Senate, House District 4, and two state Constitutional amendments.
During the meeting Monday, an election officer said that changes to how Virginia votes delayed about 30 local certifications. Among those changes, over 60% of Virginia voters cast their ballots early or by mail - an historic number.
Richmond was the only locality still outstanding by the state’s overall certification deadline of Monday - although the board was legally allowed to continue the process for up to three days, as it did.
Richmond Registrar Kirk Showalter told the press last week that her office had experienced a COVID-19 outbreak. 90% of the staff went into quarantine, greatly slowing the process of counting and verifying provisional ballots.
Now that Richmond’s final tally has been returned, and the Board of Elections staff has completed their review, board members were able to certify all the results. Next they’ll deliver certificates of election to the winning candidates, and Virginia’s appointed presidential electors will cast their votes on Dec. 14.
Commissioner of Elections Chris Piper said that his staff will complete a report on the administration of this year’s election, but did not specify a timeline for its release.
