After President Donald Trump revisited debunked election conspiracy theories in a primetime speech Thursday, elections officials in Maryland and Virginia urged skeptics to get in touch with their local elections offices to learn about observing the process for themselves.

They also spoke to WTOP about the systems that make voting secure in their jurisdictions and in other states.

“First of all, paper ballots can’t be hacked, right?” Maryland elections administrator Jared DeMarinis said. “Like we are a paper ballot state; everyone votes on a paper ballot.”

On the machines that tabulate the results, “We do logic and accuracy testing prior to each election, which is for public observation,” DeMarinis said.

And after each election, the Maryland State Board of Elections runs audits to verify the accuracy of the count.

In Virginia, which is holding its primary election on Aug. 4, Samantha Alfaro, the communications manager for Loudoun County’s Office of Elections, said the decentralized nature of the nation’s election system is “a feature of our democracy.”

“I would say the fact that states, localities, cities all have different voting equipment makes elections secure,” Alfaro said.

Votes are recorded and counted on different equipment in states, cities and counties.

“I would say that voters in Loudoun County and Virginia and this country as well can depend on the election process,” she said. 

Alfaro also stressed that counting machines are not connected into the internet.

“All they do is count your ballot,” she said. 

Even so, there are continual checks to make sure election data is secured.

“We take cybersecurity very seriously, DeMarinis said. “It’s a top priority of my administration at the Board of Elections. Here, we are constantly monitoring our sites and systems for any bad actors.”

Public participation beyond the ballot box

Serving as an election officer is one way to learn more about the process firsthand.

DeMarinis said it takes what he called an “army” of citizens to help run elections, noting that the state hires roughly 26,000 election judges when voters head to the polls.

Similarly, in Virginia, “our elections are run by your friends and neighbors, so the person who’s checking you in at your precinct might be your neighbor or your kid’s teacher or the person who works at Trader Joe’s and is bagging your groceries,” Alfaro said.

Maryland and Virginia elections also provide for observers. The canvassing process, where the votes are processed and tabulated, is open to the public.

“That’s why we publicize when they are going to occur,” said DeMarinis.

The question of Maryland’s voter rolls

Earlier in July, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division threatened DeMarinis and elections officials in other states with criminal charges.

DeMarinis’ letter arrived after the agency lost a bid to force Maryland to turn over its voter records.

“There’s a lot of talk about, I guess, the SAVE Act and noncitizens on our rolls, and again, it’s just not true,” he said. 

“When they talk about wanting all these lists, it’s nothing more than a fishing expedition for mythical systematic evildoers that just again, don’t exist,” he said. “It’s more like the ‘Odyssey’ than reality.”

Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

© 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) – Events scheduled for Friday, July 17 are being canceled across the Richmond area due to poor air quality making it unsafe to be outside.

City of Richmond

• All camp programs are indoors on Friday.  
• Outdoor city pools will also be closed Friday. Indoor swimming is available at Bellemede Community Center Pool (1800 Lynhaven Avenue, open until 8 p.m.) and Swansboro Pool (3160 Midlothian Turnpike, open until 8 p.m.).  
• The scheduled Festival of the Arts performance at Dogwood Dell (KOS BAND) has been canceled. 
• The Salvation Army at 1900 Chamberlayne Avenue will be a center for cooling and air quality relief from 2 p.m, on Friday, July 17 to 8 a.m. Saturday, July 18 and from 12 to 5 p.m.  

Colonial Downs

Colonial Downs in New Kent canceled live racing for Friday but will continue on Saturday at an earlier-than-normal 11:30 a.m. post time. Military Appreciation Day at Colonial Downs is still on for Sunday, July 19.

Weather Updates

Some areas in Virginia area under a Code Purple Alert, which means everyone should limit their time outside, especially children, older adults, and those with lung and heart diseases.

Click here to track the air quality near you.

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — West Virginia has plenty of state symbols, be it the black bear as the state animal, the cardinal as the state bird or the rhododendron as the state flower, but did you know that the Mountain State also has its own official gun?

The Hall Flintlock Model 1819 was first manufactured in Harpers Ferry by John H. Hall in 1811 and was adopted by the United States Army in 1819, making it the first breech-loading rifle ever adopted by a country’s military.

All of this information is listed in Senate Concurrent Resolution 7, which was introduced and passed during the 2013 West Virginia Legislative session, and officially recognizes the Model 1819 as the official firearm of the State of West Virginia.

On top of being created in West Virginia, the resolution also points out that the rifle saw use during the Civil War, an event that directly led to West Virginia’s statehood.

While having an officially recognized state firearm may seem far-fetched, West Virginia is not the only state that has one. As a matter of fact, a fifth of the states in the country have officially designated a state firearm, including West Virginia’s neighbors in Kentucky and Pennsylvania.