The Electoral Process Education Corporation (EPEC) is a Virginia-based organization that provides technology experts to analyze voting systems and election databases. The organization claims it wants to promote voter participation, analyze election technology, and educate the public about best practices in managing election technology systems. ^{1 2}

Background

The Electoral Process Education Corporation was founded in 2022 and says its mission is to promote voter participation, analyze election technology, and educate the public about voting systems. ²

The organization has volunteers throughout Virginia that include technology experts, database administrators, corporate project managers, media and web publishing professionals, and veterans of election office management. ²

The organization contends that if more Americans understand the processes of elections management and if there is more transparency, then more Americans will have confidence in elections and voter participation will increase. ³

EPEC set up the Digital Poll Watchers project where its volunteers document voter participation, voter registration lists, and poll watcher reporting. ⁴

Research and Activity

After the 2022 midterm elections, the Electoral Process Education Corporation recommended Virginia election officials “verify scanner machine ballot counts before certification of results.” This came after discovering in at least two precincts of Prince William County the number of physical ballots cast was different than the machine scanner’s tally of ballots reported by election officials. ¹

EPEC’s report said, “Although the number of ballots impacted was small, the repeated findings raise questions about the origin of the errors and whether the machines were operating correctly.” ⁵ Although EPEC stressed it was not raising a question about the election winner, the 7^th Congressional District race was decided by about 13,000 votes, while in the 10^th Congressional District, the election was decided by 19,000 votes. ⁶

EPEC released a study after the 2022 election that claimed there were 15,419 ballots cast in Virginia for which the voter’s registered address was flagged as “invalid” by the U.S. Postal Service’s “National Change of Address” database check. Responding to the report, Northampton Registrar Terry Flynn said, “This is more of an issue with how the Postal Service assigns addresses than anything to do with fraudulent voting.” ⁷

The EPEC board of directors met with Virginia Commissioner of Elections Susan Beals in September 2023 to share some of its research. The organization announced it was grateful for the meeting, but noted Beals was noncommittal. ⁸

In 2023, after the Virginia Department of Elections identified 1,481 noncitizens were registered to vote in the state, EPEC did an analysis that claimed 800 of those noncitizens cast ballots. ⁹

EPEC contends that Virginia does not need to have seven weeks of early voting. The volunteer observers went to polling sites that are required to be fully staffed for weeks when only a trickle of voters arrive. The organization notes only in the final two weeks before the election, turnout is heavy. ¹⁰

Leadership

Jon Lareau, is the executive director and chief technology officer for the Electoral Process Education Corporation, which he founded in 2022.  Lareau has been an inventor, author, and contributing member to technical societies. ¹¹ He is the founder of the firm Willful Wreckords. He is a senior signal processing engineer at Leidos. ¹²

Erin Marie Joyce is the secretary-treasurer of EPEC. Joyce was a project manager and technology journalist, infrastructure and engineering magazine editor, and web content manager. She is a former communications director at the Consumer Product Safety Commission. ¹³ Joyce is the communications manager for the Election Integrity Network, which is a project of the Conservative Partnership Institute. ¹⁴

Ken Lubeck is a director of EPEC. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Virginia Beach City Public School Board in 2022. ¹⁵

1. Press Release. “For Immediate Release: Multiple Errors Found in Virginia’s 2022 Election Scanner and Pollbook Data At Least Two Precincts Showed Different Physical Ballot Count Compared to Scanner Counts.” November 14, 2022. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://justthenews.com/sites/default/files/2022-11/PressRelease_EPEC_11_14_2022_FINAL-2.pdf
2. “About Us.” Electoral Process Education Corporation. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://epec.info/about-us/
3.  “About Digital Poll Watchers.” Electoral Process Education Corporation.” Accessed June 21, 2024. https://epec.info/digital-poll-watchers-sandbox/
4. “ About Digital Poll Watchers.” Electoral Process Education Corporation.” Accessed June 21, 2024. https://epec.info/digital-poll-watchers-sandbox/
5. Lendrum, Eric. “Election Machines Report More Votes than Ballots in Two Virginia Swing Districts.” American Greatness. November 15, 2022. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://amgreatness.com/2022/11/15/election-machines-report-more-votes-than-ballots-in-two-virginia-swing-districts/
6.  Davis, Jack. “Election Officers Notice the Numbers Aren’t Adding Up Between Reported Votes and Physical Ballots Cast.” Western Journal. November 16, 2022. Accessed https://www.westernjournal.com/election-officers-notice-numbers-arent-adding-reported-votes-physical-ballots-cast/
7.  “Election Fraud Claims Highlight Issues With Zip Codes.” Shore Daily News. January 14, 2023. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://shoredailynews.com/headlines/election-fraud-claims-highlight-issues-with-zip-codes/
8. Press Release. “When EPEC Met ELECT.” September 20, 2023. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://epec.info/2023/09/20/newsletter-when-epec-met-elect/
9. Press Release. “VA Records Show Non-citizens Voting.” Electoral Process Education Corporation.” Accessed June 21, 2024. https://epec.info/2024/03/22/va-records-show-non-citizens-voting/
10. Press Release. “Data: VA Voters Don’t Need 7-Weeks of Voting.” Electoral Process Education Corporation.” Accessed June 21, 2024.  https://epec.info/2024/01/11/data-show-fewer-voters-vote-early/
11. “Jon Lareau.” Electoral Process Education Corporation.” Accessed June 21, 2024. https://epec.info/team/jon-lareau/
12. “Jonathan Lareau.” LinkedIn. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonlareau/
13. “Erin Joyce.” Electoral Process Education Corporation.” Accessed June 21, 2024. https://epec.info/team/erin-joyce/
14. Joyce, Erin Marie. “To Confirm Voters’ U.S. Citizenship, States Could Easily Check DMV Data.” The Federalist. May 6, 2024. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://thefederalist.com/2024/05/06/to-confirm-voters-u-s-citizenship-states-could-easily-check-dmv-data/
15. Kenneth Lubeck.” Ballotpedia. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://ballotpedia.org/Kenneth_Lubeck