Technology and voting: Innovations in Virginia over the century

Voting in Virginia has undergone a significant transformation over the past century, driven by technological innovations that have improved the efficiency, accuracy, and accessibility of the electoral process. 

From the manual methods of the 1920s to today’s sophisticated electronic systems and online tools, advancements in voting reflect a commitment to enhancing democratic participation. 

Today, we’re exploring the innovations of voting methods over the past century.

Voting in the 1920s: A historical perspective

In the 1920s, Virginia’s voting system was characterized by manual processes. Voting machines became popular in America during the previous decade, thanks to an invention by Jacob H. Myers. These machines were lever-operated, and ironically contained more moving parts than an automobile.

For party-line voters, casting a ballot was especially simple. By selecting a single lever, folks could vote strictly Democrat or Republican all the way down the ticket. If they wanted to vote for each candidate separately, that was also an option. 

“Automatic Booth” voting machines, which dominated 80% of the market, remained popular until around 1980. 

The rise of technology: Electronic voting machines

Nowadays, you’re likely to encounter an electronic component to casting your ballot—but if you’re in Virginia, you’ll still receive a physical ballot to mark. That is, of course, unless you request the assistance of a ballot marking device (BMD), which is a type of vote recorder.

The rise of electronic voting systems helped in several ways. One of the most noteworthy is the accuracy of the machines. 

Following the 2020 shenanigans when then-president Donald Trump made false claims about a “stolen election,” a group of top government and industry officials took a stand, declaring via the  Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency: “There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes or was in any way compromised.”

The group went on to note that the 2020 election was “the most secure in American history.”

Paper records—with most tabulated by electronic scanning machines—accounted for an estimated 93% of all ballots cast. A system of post-election checks tested the accuracy of the electronic tabulators, the Associated Press reported. 

Online voter registration

Online voter registration is also a notable advancement. Having the option to register to vote at a person’s convenience makes the process more accessible and streamlined. Virginia introduced online voter registration in 2013.

If you’d like to register to vote or check your voter registration status, click here.