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VA Senate Privileges & Elections Chair Aaron Rouse Is Right: Youngkin’s New Executive Order Is “voter suppression and intimidation disguised as election integrity”

"This is about undermining confidence in our elections and ultimately, our democracy.”

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See below for a press release from VA State Senator Aaron Rouse, Chair of the VA Senate Privileges and Elections committee, about Youngkin’s new Executive Order (see below the press release), which supposedly “implements important steps to ensure the accuracy of Virginia voter rolls by modernizing and tightening voting system standards and ensuring cohesive cooperation with state and federal agencies.” As Sen. Rouse correctly points out, this order “is voter suppression and intimidation disguised as election integrity, just a week before early voting begins in Virginia,” as “[v]oter fraud is virtually nonexistent, and our elections have been among the most secure in history.” Also yes – as Sen. Rouse says, the actual purpose of Youngkin’s new executive order is “undermining confidence in our elections and ultimately, our democracy.”

Senator Aaron Rouse Condemns Youngkin’s New Election Order as “Voter Suppression Disguised as Integrity”
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA — Senator Aaron Rouse, Chair of the Senate Privileges and Elections committee, today issued the following statement in response to Governor Glenn Youngkin’s new executive order on election security, issued just one week before early voting begins in Virginia:

“This is voter suppression and intimidation disguised as election integrity, just a week before early voting begins in Virginia. Voter fraud is virtually nonexistent, and our elections have been among the most secure in history. This is Youngkin’s same repeated playbook. He pulled this exact move last year, took it all the way to the Supreme Court, and was allowed to reinstate his voter purge program. With President Trump now back in office, there is nothing stopping him from going even further. This is about undermining confidence in our elections and ultimately, our democracy.”

Today, Governor Youngkin signed Executive Order 53, directing the Virginia Department of Elections to coordinate with federal agencies to “ensure that data is securely shared” and requiring the removal of allegedly ineligible voters from the rolls in accordance with state and federal law. The order also expands the use of the Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE database, which is designed to identify non-citizens, and mandates election preparedness exercises before early voting begins.

Background
In the fall of 2024, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s voter roll purge, which targeted non-citizens, was challenged in court by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and voting rights groups. After lower courts blocked the program, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an emergency stay, allowing the purge to continue just before the 2024 general election. The DOJ’s lawsuit was later voluntarily dismissed in January 2025 following the election and a change in presidential administration.

Governor Youngkin and Virginia officials further compounded the situation by failing to take any additional measures to verify impacted individuals’ citizenship status. Lifelong Virginians and long-term voters were wrongfully removed from the rolls by this haphazard and inaccurate voter purge.

In response to these actions, Senator Rouse introduced legislation during the past session to prevent such unlawful voter purges and ensure stronger safeguards for eligible voters. Governor Youngkin vetoed that legislation, leaving Virginians unprotected from similar actions this year.

“Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy,” Rouse said. “Instead of sowing doubt and fear, we should be focused on expanding access, protecting every eligible voter, and ensuring that Virginians can cast their ballots without intimidation or unnecessary barriers.”

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Governor Glenn Youngkin Issues Executive Order to Further Enhance Security of the Commonwealth’s Electoral Process
RICHMOND, VA – Today, Governor Glenn Youngkin issued Executive Order 53 to further enhance the security of Virginia’s elections. The Order implements important steps to ensure the accuracy of Virginia voter rolls by modernizing and tightening voting system standards and ensuring cohesive cooperation with state and federal agencies.

Executive Order 53 directs the Virginia Commissioner and Department of Elections to strengthen election security and integrity by coordinating with federal agencies, particularly the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), ensuring that data is shared securely and ineligible voters are expeditiously removed from the rolls in compliance with state and federal law. It also requires continued and expanded use of DHS’s SAVE database to identify non-citizens, participation in federal technology evaluation programs, and the adoption of updated federal voting system guidelines (VVSG 2.0) into Virginia’s certification standards while ensuring they remain stricter than federal requirements. Finally, it mandates that the Virginia Fusion Center and Department of Emergency Management conduct a statewide election preparedness exercise before early voting begins to test coordination, response plans, and communication across agencies.

“Free and fair elections are the bedrock of our democracy,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “That’s why it is so important that we do everything we can to make our elections as secure as possible, ensuring that our lists are accurate and our systems are reliable. The Executive Order I am issuing today builds upon our previous work to make Virginia’s election security the best in the nation. Virginia has paper ballots, counting machines and not voting machines, no internet connections, along with extensive procedures to remove ineligible individuals from the voter rolls.”

Executive Order 53 builds on the administration’s lengthy record of strengthening and safeguarding Virginia’s election system, including Executive Orders 31 and 35 issued last year. Executive Order 31 established a multi-agency data sharing protocol in regard to voter list maintenance. Executive Order 35 broadened the focus of election security to ballot security procedures, rigorous testing of counting machines, and strengthened standards for maintaining accurate voter rolls. Additional efforts implemented by the Youngkin Administration to improve Virginia’s list maintenance include establishing one-to-one data-sharing agreements with eleven states, conducting two National Change of Address mailings, and streamlining the process for removing deceased voters through an audit of Virginia deceased records.

The Governor’s full executive order is available here.

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