GOVERNOR'S VETO EXPLANATION (March 27, 1995)

In accordance with Article V, Section 6 of the Constitution of Virginia, I am vetoing this bill.

This bill embodies the mail registration portion of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (the "federal Act").

As was made clear during the legislative process, I was willing to accept legislation implementing the federal Act if the legislation made the key provisions subject to a delayed enactment clause that would allow the Commonwealth time to challenge the federal Act in court and pursue relief in Congress. Unfortunately, the majority would not agree to making the mail registration provision subject to that delayed enactment clause, and for that reason I offered an amendment at the Reconvened Session requiring a reenactment of this bill and the others implementing the federal Act in the 1996 Regular Session of the General Assembly. The majority failed to adopt that amendment, so I am forced to veto this bill.

Contrary to what some supporters of this legislation have said, the primary issue is not the need to make registering to vote easier in Virginia, but the overriding need to protect the integrity of our electoral process.

Today in Virginia, under our current voting laws, local registrars are authorized to appoint assistant registrars, who may be private citizens or members of organizations, to set up voting registration stations in shopping malls, community centers, schools and other public facilities at convenient pre-announced times, such as on nights and weekends, to encourage and facilitate voter registration.

Additionally, any citizen who is disabled, infirm or faces some other physical difficulty visiting a registrar's office, may call their local registrar and receive an in-home visit so that they can register to vote.

Registering to vote in Virginia is not difficult under our current laws. But vote fraud will be easier to perpetrate under this legislation which Congress has sought to force on Virginia and our sister States. By not requiring the individual to register in person, it becomes extremely difficult, if not impossible, for local registrars to verify the applicant's age, citizenship, residency, even the applicant's identity.

For these reasons, I am returning this bill without my signature.

GOVERNOR'S RECOMMENDATION

1. Page 3, enrolled, at the end of the bill

insert

2. That the provisions of this act shall not become effective unless reenacted by the 1996 Session of the General Assembly.