SEARCH SITE

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

ACROSS SESSIONS

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

2020 SESSION

20102047D
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 23
Offered January 8, 2020
Prefiled December 27, 2019
Requesting the Department of Elections to study the use of blockchain technology to protect voter records and election results. Report.
----------
Patrons-- Ayala, Adams, D.M., Gooditis and Samirah
----------
Referred to Committee on Rules
----------

WHEREAS, the Department of Elections is responsible for ensuring the security and integrity of the Virginia Election and Registration Information System, which contains voter registration records for over five million voters registered in the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, the mission of the Department of Elections is to promote and support accurate, fair, open, and secure elections for the citizens of the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, Merriam-Webster defines a blockchain as "a digital database containing information (such as records of financial transactions) that can be simultaneously used and shared within a large decentralized, publicly accessible network"; and

WHEREAS, blockchain technology has the potential to have a profound impact in any area that requires recorded transactions, such as government recordkeeping, voting, chain of custody, and vote counting; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Department of Elections be requested to study the use of blockchain technology to protect voter records and election results.

In conducting its study, the Department of Elections shall (i) determine the kinds of blockchain technology that could be used to secure voter records and election results, (ii) determine the costs and benefits of using such technology as compared to traditional registration and election security measures, and (iii) make recommendations on whether and how to implement blockchain technology in practices affecting the security of voter records and election results.

Technical assistance shall be provided to the Department of Elections by the Virginia Information Technologies Agency. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Department of Elections for this study, upon request.

The Department of Elections shall complete its meetings for the first year by November 30, 2020, and for the second year by November 30, 2021, and the Department of Elections shall submit to the Governor and the General Assembly an executive summary and report of its findings and recommendations for publication as a House or Senate document for each year. The executive summaries and reports shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports no later than the first day of the next Regular Session of the General Assembly and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.