Attorney General Miyares announces Election Integrity Unit

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Attorney General Jason Miyares announced a new unit that would provide support, advice and resources to increase confidence in future Virginia elections.

The Election Integrity Unit would provide legal advice to the Department of Elections and investigate and prosecute violations of Virginia election law. The unit will also work with the election community throughout the year to ensure election laws are applied ethically.

This comes nearly two years after baseless claims that the presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.

“I pledged during the 2021 campaign to work to increase transparency and strengthen confidence in our state elections. It should be easy to vote and hard to cheat. The Election Integrity Unit will work to help to restore confidence in our democratic process in the Commonwealth,” Attorney General Miyares said.

Keith Balmer, the registrar for Richmond, said he doesn’t believe voters ever lost confidence, but the unit could only benefit the Commonwealth.

“There are regulations that come from the State Board of Elections in order for us to all do our jobs, and this new Election Integrity Unit created by the attorney general just looks to be an extension of that,” Balmer said.

The new unit will work with the State Board, the Department of Elections and local election officials in the upcoming election and beyond.

The Election Integrity Unit comprises more than 20 attorneys, investigators and paralegals from various divisions in the Office of the Attorney General.

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