2 election officials in a rural Virginia city sue the state over ballot-counting machines

Associated Press/Report for America

RICHMOND (AP) — Two Republican election officials say in a lawsuit that they will not certify the results of the Nov. 5 election in a rural Virginia city unless the ballots are hand-counted —perpetuating a false notion that vote-tallying machines can be manipulated. The suit against the Virginia Department of Elections was filed in Waynesboro, Virginia, by the city’s election board chair and vice chair. It contends election officials do not have access to votes tallied by machines in what they called a “secret canvass.” Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has stood by the machines. He filed an executive order in August mandating that the machines be tested before each election and not be connected to the internet.