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2019 SESSION

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SB 1455 Elections, State Board of; membership, appointment of Commissioner of Elections.

Introduced by: Jill Holtzman Vogel | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles | history

SUMMARY AS PASSED:

State Board of Elections; membership; appointment of Commissioner of Elections. Increases the membership of the State Board of Elections 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 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 the Commissioner of Elections, subject to confirmation by the General Assembly, and to remove the Commissioner of Elections. The appointment or removal of the Commissioner shall require an affirmative vote of four of the five Board members. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2020. This bill is identical to HB 1620.

SUMMARY AS PASSED SENATE:

State Board of Elections; membership; appointment of Commissioner of Elections. Increases the membership of the State Board of Elections 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 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. The appointment or removal of the Commissioner shall require an affirmative vote of four of the five Board members. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2020.

SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED:

Department of Elections and the State Board of Elections; reorganization as independent agency; membership of State Board of Elections; appointment of Commissioner of Elections. Continues and reestablishes the Department of Elections as an independent agency that includes a Commissioner of Elections and the State Board of Elections. The State Board is continued as a supervisory board and its membership is increased from three to nine members, with terms of three years after an initial staggering of terms. The Governor, the Speaker of the House of Delegates, and the Senate Committee on Rules each appoint three members; of those three, two members represent the political parties receiving the highest and next highest number of votes in the Commonwealth for Governor at the last preceding gubernatorial election, and one is a former judge of a court of record. Under the bill, the State Board is responsible for appointing a Commissioner of Elections and has the authority to remove the Commissioner of Elections; such appointment or removal requires an affirmative vote of six of the nine Board members. The bill places restrictions on political activities of State Board members, the Commissioner, and employees of the Department.