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ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
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2018 SESSION
Chairman: Jill Holtzman Vogel
Clerk: Hobie Lehman
Staff: Meg Lamb
Date of Meeting: January 30, 2018
Time and Place: 15 minutes after adjournment/Senate Room 3, The Capitol
Patron: Ebbin
Absentee voting; persons age 65 or older. Entitles a person who will be age 65 or older on the day of an election to vote by absentee ballot in that election.
Patron: Ebbin
Absentee voting; late applications and in-person voting in certain circumstances. Provides that a registered voter who becomes obligated after noon on the Friday immediately preceding an election to travel outside of his county or city for a business purpose, for a hospitalization, or for the death of a member of his immediate family is entitled to apply for an absentee ballot and to vote absentee in-person. Such a registered voter is required to apply in person not later than 2:00 p.m. on the Monday immediately preceding the election. Currently, the provisions for late applications and in-person absentee voting apply only to those registered voters who become obligated after noon on the Saturday immediately preceding the election.
Patron: Ebbin
Absentee voting; prescribed oath for absentee voters. Removes the requirement that an absentee voter completing the Statement of Voter include the address of his legal residence in Virginia. The bill requires instead that the voter affirm that he is a legal resident of the county or city in which he is offering to vote. Those voters who qualify to vote absentee under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. § 20301 et seq.) continue to use the standard oath prescribed by the presidential designee under § 101(b)(7) of that act.
Patron: Spruill
Method of nominating party candidates; certain incumbents to determine method. Provides that incumbent constitutional officers shall have the right to determine the method of making party nominations for that constitutional office. If the incumbent constitutional officer does not designate a method or if no incumbent offers as a candidate for reelection to the office, the political party shall determine the method of nomination for that office. Currently, only incumbent General Assembly members have the right to designate the method of nomination.
Patron: Locke
Absentee voting; no excuse. Allows for any registered voter to vote by absentee ballot in any election in which he is qualified to vote. The bill removes the current list of statutory reasons for which a person may be entitled to vote by absentee ballot and consolidates multiple sections relating to absentee voting by uniformed and overseas voters into one section and multiple sections related to absentee voting by persons with a disability into one section.
Patron: Howell
Absentee voting; no-excuse in-person available 21 days prior to election. Allows for any registered voter to vote by absentee ballot in person beginning on the twenty-first day prior to any election in which he is qualified to vote without providing a reason or making prior application for an absentee ballot. The bill makes absentee voting in person available beginning on the forty-fifth day prior to the election and ending at 5:00 p.m. on the Saturday immediately preceding the election. The bill retains the current provisions for voting an absentee ballot by mail or in person prior to the twenty-first day before the election, including the application requirement and the list of statutory reasons for absentee voting.
Patron: Wexton
Absentee voting; persons age 65 or older. Entitles a person who will be age 65 or older on the day of an election to vote by absentee ballot in that election.
Patron: Lewis
Constitutional amendment (voter referendum); real property tax exemption for flooding remediation, abatement, and resiliency. Provides for a referendum at the November 6, 2018, election to approve or reject an amendment to allow the General Assembly to authorize the governing bodies of counties, cities, and towns to provide for a partial exemption from local real property taxation, within such restrictions and upon such conditions as may be prescribed, of improved real estate subject to recurrent flooding upon which flooding abatement, mitigation, or resiliency efforts have been undertaken.
Patron: Dance
Absentee voting; no excuse required when voting in person. Provides that any registered voter may vote by absentee ballot in person in any election in which he is qualified to vote without providing a reason for being unable to vote in person on election day. The bill retains the statutory list of reasons allowing a voter to cast an absentee ballot by mail.
Patron: Barker
Absentee voting; persons age 65 or older. Entitles a person who will be age 65 or older on the day of an election to vote by absentee ballot in that election.
Patron: Peake
Redistricting; split precincts prohibited. Requires that, at any level of election district, each precinct be wholly contained within a single election district, except where splitting a precinct among two or more districts is necessary to ensure the population of each district is as nearly equal to the population of every other district as practicable.
Patron: Peake
Virginia Independent Redistricting Review Commission; split precincts. Establishes the seven-member Virginia Independent Redistricting Review Commission for the purpose of reviewing redistricting plans adopted by the General Assembly to ensure that precincts are wholly contained within election districts at every level. A plan containing any precinct that is split among two or more election districts requires the approval of the Commission for its enactment. The bill requires that when reviewing such a plan, the Commission determine whether the precinct was split in an effort to ensure that the population of each district is as nearly equal to the population of every other district as practicable and whether population equality of the districts can be achieved to the extent necessary without splitting the precinct.
Patron: Lewis
Constitutional amendment (ballot bill); special funds for transportation purposes. Provides for a referendum at the November 6, 2018, general election to approve or reject an amendment to the Constitution that would require the General Assembly to maintain permanent and separate Transportation Funds. The amendment directs that revenues dedicated to Transportation Funds on January 1, 2018, by general law, other than a general appropriation law, shall be deposited to the Transportation Funds, unless the General Assembly by general law, other than a general appropriation law, alters the revenues dedicated to the Funds. The amendment limits the use of Funds moneys to transportation and related purposes. The amendment specifies that the General Assembly may borrow from the Funds for other purposes only by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house and that the loan must be repaid with reasonable interest within four years.
Patron: Mason
Absentee voting; persons age 65 or older. Entitles a person who will be age 65 or older on the day of an election to vote by absentee ballot in that election.
Patron: Barker
Election district boundaries not to split precincts. Requires county and city governing bodies in each year ending in one, immediately after the completion of decennial redistricting, to establish precinct boundaries so that no precinct is split between two or more congressional, state Senate, House of Delegates, or county or city election districts. If it is impossible to meet this requirement the governing body is given authority to request a waiver from the State Board of Elections to establish a split precinct. The State Board may either grant the waiver or, if the Board finds it more appropriate, approve an exception to the minimum size requirements for precincts.
Patron: DeSteph
Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act; secure return of voted military-overseas ballots by electronic means; pilot program. Requires the State Board of Elections to establish and supervise a pilot program for the secure return of voted military-overseas ballots by electronic means from those uniformed-service voters who are members (i) of the active or reserve components of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard of the United States who are on active duty or (ii) of the National Guard on activated status and who are deployed outside of the United States. Under the pilot program, those uniformed-service voters shall be permitted to sign the military-overseas ballot application, the statement of voter accompanying the military-overseas ballot, and any other related documents deemed necessary by the State Board to ensure authentication of the voter's identification using his digital signature associated with his military-issued electronic mail account. The State Board is directed to request proposals for the development and maintenance of the system used for the pilot program and to provide instructions, procedures, services, and ongoing security assessments for the entity selected to develop and maintain the system. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2020.
Patron: Vogel
Post-election risk-limiting audits. Requires electoral boards and general registrars to conduct post-election risk-limiting audits with a five percent risk limit for federal and statewide election contests for every election in which a voting system is used. The risk-limiting audit is required to be completed prior to certifying the results of the election being audited. The risk-limiting audits are to be conducted in accordance with standards and procedures developed by the State Board of Elections (State Board). The bill provides that representatives of candidates and political parties and other lawfully present observers are entitled to observe the risk-limiting audit and requires that they be able to adequately monitor the audit process to determine whether it has been carried out correctly and to evaluate whether the correct ballots were audited and whether they agree with the auditors' determination of voter intent for each audited ballot. Voter intent during the risk-limiting audit is to be determined manually and directly from original, voter-verifiable ballots cast and counted in the election and from paper record copies. The bill provides that the State Board may order a partial or full recount of an election or may issue a writ for a new election if it determines that an elections official failed to comply with the requirements for conducting the risk-limiting audit. The State Board is directed to convene a work group to assist with the development of standards and procedures for preparing for and conducting post-election risk-limiting audits, and the work group, through the State Board, shall submit to the Governor and General Assembly an interim progress report by December 1, 2018, and a final report by December 1, 2019, of the standards and procedures for preparing for and conducting post-election risk-limiting audits and any legislative proposals that may be necessary to implement and administer the audits. The bill repeals the current law regarding risk-limiting audits, and the new post-election risk-limiting audit process does not become effective unless reenacted by the 2020 Session of the General Assembly.
Patron: Vogel
Campaign finance; prohibited personal use; penalty. Prohibits the conversion of any contributed moneys, securities, or like intangible personal property by any person to the personal use of a candidate or member of the candidate's immediate family or an intimate partner of the candidate or a member of the candidate's immediate family if (i) such use yields a grossly disproportionate and unreasonable benefit to the recipient or candidate relative to the benefit realized by the candidate's campaign or public office, (ii) the fair market value of converted property grossly exceeds the benefit realized by the candidate's campaign or public office, (iii) a reasonable and prudent person would not ordinarily authorize such expenditure as beneficial to the campaign, and (iv) such use is made with a knowing, willing, reckless, or negligent disregard for the financial interests of the campaign. Complaints of alleged violations may be made by any person to the State Board of Elections. The subject of the complaint has 30 days to provide to the State Board documentation or other evidence that the use of campaign funds was permissible. The State Board shall call a hearing if it determines, after reviewing any response made by the subject of the complaint, that the use of campaign funds was impermissible. A person found by the State Board to have willfully and knowingly violated this section shall repay to the campaign committee the amount unlawfully converted. The State Board may also assess an additional civil penalty, in an amount not to exceed the amount unlawfully converted. Complaints may be declared factually meritless by the State Board when, viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the complaining party, it finds there is no credible allegation of a violation and such complaints shall be exempt from public disclosure for a period of time immediately preceding an election.
Patron: Ebbin
Absentee voting; no-excuse in-person available 21 days prior to election. Allows for any registered voter to vote by absentee ballot in person beginning on the twenty-first day prior to any election in which he is qualified to vote without providing a reason or making prior application for an absentee ballot. The bill makes absentee voting in person available beginning on the forty-fifth day prior to the election and ending at 5:00 p.m. on the Saturday immediately preceding the election. The bill retains the current provisions for voting an absentee ballot by mail or in person prior to the twenty-first day before the election, including the application requirement and the list of statutory reasons for absentee voting.
Patron: Ebbin
Absentee voting; certain absentee voters permitted to vote after close of absentee voting location. Provides that an applicant who is in line to cast his ballot when the office of the general registrar or location being used for in-person absentee voting closes shall be permitted to cast his absentee ballot that day.
Patron: Lewis
Absentee voting; eligibility of persons whose polling place prohibits firearms. Entitles any person who may otherwise lawfully carry a firearm to vote absentee if his polling place is located in a building or on property where such possession is prohibited by law or is prohibited by the owner of the private property.
Patron: Surovell
Absentee voting; alternative locations for in-person absentee voting. Provides that the alternative locations approved by the electoral boards for absentee voting in person prior to election day shall be in a public facility owned or leased by the city, the county, or a town within the county, at which all records concerning the absentee voters, the absentee ballots, both voted and unvoted, and any voting equipment in use at the location are adequately protected and secured. Currently, the law limits the electoral boards to approving alternative locations only in public buildings.
Patron: Surovell
Absentee voting; counting military and overseas absentee ballots received after close of polls on election day. Provides that absentee ballots cast by military and overseas absentee voters that are (i) received after the close of the polls on any election day but before 5:00 p.m. on the second business day before the State Board meets to ascertain the results of the election and (ii) postmarked on or before the date of such election are to be counted if the voter is found entitled to vote. The bill provides that a postmark includes any other official indicia of confirmation of mailing by the United States Postal Service or other postal or delivery service. Under current law, such ballots cast by military and overseas absentee voters would be counted in this manner regardless of the date of any postmark, but only if the absentee ballot had been requested on or before, but not sent by, the deadline for making absentee ballots available.
Patron: Cosgrove
Voter registration by political party affiliation; primary elections. Adds party affiliation, beginning January 1, 2019, to the information that an applicant is asked to provide when registering to vote. The applicant may indicate that he is an independent. Voters registered prior to January 1, 2019, will be designated as independent unless they provide a political party designation in writing to the general registrar. Voters may change their party affiliation or independent status by written notice at any time before the registration records are closed prior to an election. The state party chairman of each political party must notify the State Board of Elections by January 31 of each year of the rules adopted by the duly constituted authorities of the state political party governing who may participate in the party's primaries to be held from April 1 of that year through March 31 of the following year.
Patron: Edwards
State Board of Elections; membership; appointment of Commissioner of Elections. Increases the membership of the State Board of Elections (Board) from three members to five members and increases the terms of Board members from four years to five years. Representation shall be given to each of the political parties having the highest and next highest number of votes in the Commonwealth at the last preceding gubernatorial election, with three Board members being of the party of the Governor. Terms are initially staggered. The bill also grants to the Board the authority to appoint and remove the Commissioner of Elections, subject to confirmation by the General Assembly, to head the Department of Elections and to act as the principal administrative officer. The appointment or removal of the Commissioner shall require an affirmative vote of four of the five Board members. The bill requires the Board to submit an annual report to the Governor and the General Assembly. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2019.
Patron: Vogel
Constitutional amendment (voter referendum); legislative review of administrative rules. Provides for a referendum at the November 6, 2018, election to approve or reject an amendment that would grant to the General Assembly the authority to review any administrative rule to ensure it is consistent with the legislative intent of the statute that the rule was written to interpret, prescribe, implement, or enforce. The amendment provides that after such review, the General Assembly may approve or reject, in whole or in part, any rule as provided by law and that the approval or rejection of a rule by the General Assembly shall not be subject to veto by the Governor.
Patron: Stuart
Constitutional amendment (voter referendum); real property tax exemption for surviving spouses of certain disabled veterans. Provides for a referendum at the November 6, 2018, election to approve or reject an amendment to the real property tax exemption for a primary residence that is currently provided to the surviving spouses of veterans who had a one hundred percent service-connected, permanent, and total disability to allow the surviving spouse to move to a different principal place of residence. Similar real property tax exemptions provided in the Constitution of Virginia to (i) the surviving spouses of members of the armed forces killed in action and (ii) the surviving spouses of certain emergency services providers killed in the line of duty allow the surviving spouse to move to a different principal place of residence and still claim the tax exemption.
Patron: Chase
Review of voter assignments in districts throughout the Commonwealth. Directs each county, city, and town to review the assignment of voters within its jurisdiction to ensure that voters are assigned to the correct districts. The electoral board and general registrar of each county, city, or town shall conduct this review by comparing the information in the voter registration system with the boundaries of the districts and precincts set out in a Geographic Information System (GIS) map of the locality and shall make corrections to incorrect assignments as necessary, assisted by the State Board of Elections upon request. The bill requires this review to be completed not later than the 2018 November general election. After the conclusion of its review and after making any necessary corrections, each locality is required to submit to the State Board a report of the results of its review and any corrections to voter assignments that were made. The State Board is required to report the statewide results to the General Assembly on or before the first day of the 2019 Session.
Patron: DeSteph
Party nominating methods.
Patron: Lewis
Criteria for remedial redistricting plans.
Patron: Obenshain
Localities to eliminate split precincts in congressional and state legislative districts; precinct changes prohibited for certain period.
Patron: Lewis
Constitutional amendment (second resolution); property tax; exemption for flooding remediation, abatement, and resiliency efforts. Provides that the General Assembly may authorize a county, city, or town to partially exempt any real estate subject to recurring flooding upon which flooding abatement, mitigation, or resiliency efforts have been undertaken.
Patron: Lewis
Constitutional amendment (second resolution); Transportation Funds. Requires the General Assembly to maintain permanent and separate Transportation Funds to include the Commonwealth Transportation Fund, Transportation Trust Fund, Highway Maintenance and Operating Fund, and other funds established by general law for transportation. The amendment directs that revenues dedicated to Transportation Funds on January 1, 2018, by general law, other than a general appropriation law, shall be deposited to the Transportation Funds, unless the General Assembly by general law, other than a general appropriation law, alters the revenues dedicated to the Funds. The amendment limits the use of Funds moneys to transportation and related purposes. The amendment specifies that the General Assembly may borrow from the Funds for other purposes only by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house and that the loan must be repaid with reasonable interest within four years.
Patron: Vogel
Constitutional amendment (second resolution); legislative review of administrative rules. Grants to the General Assembly the authority to review any administrative rule to ensure it is consistent with the legislative intent of the statute that the rule was written to interpret, prescribe, implement, or enforce. The amendment provides that after such review, the General Assembly may approve or reject, in whole or in part, any rule as provided by law and that the approval or rejection of a rule by the General Assembly shall not be subject to veto by the Governor.
Patron: Stuart
Constitutional amendment (second resolution); real property tax; exemption for surviving spouse of a disabled veteran. Provides that the real property tax exemption for the principal residence of the surviving spouse of a disabled military veteran applies without any restriction on the surviving spouse's moving to a different principal place of residence.