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1996 SESSION

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HB 206 Implementation of the National Voter Registration Act.

Introduced by: James M. Scott | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles

SUMMARY:

Implementation of the National Voter Registration Act. Provides for registration of voters by mail and at the offices of the Department of Motor Vehicles, public assistance agencies, agencies primarily providing services to the disabled, armed forces recruitment offices, Game and Inland Fisheries regional offices and certain Virginia Employment Commission offices. The bill also establishes a voter list maintenance program and fail-safe voting procedures to ensure that voters who change their place of residence are provided the opportunity to correct their registration records before they are removed from the voter registration list. These changes are being made in the Commonwealth's unitary voter registration system for federal, state and local elections. The changes are made in response to the National Voter Registration Act, which Virginia is required to follow concerning voter registration procedures for federal elections, and to maintain the Commonwealth's unitary voter registration system. A constitutional amendment passed at the 1994 November election paved the way to change voter registration procedures for state and local elections by deleting (i) the requirement that a person must apply in person to register and (ii) the provisions for canceling a voter's registration for not voting. The 1995 General Assembly passed legislation similar to this bill which the Governor vetoed. The Commonwealth brought suit challenging the National Voter Registration Act in the federal district court following the 1995 Session. The district court upheld the validity of the federal Act and ruled that the Act would become effective in Virginia on March 6, 1996, with respect to voter registration procedures for federal elections. This bill also takes effect March 6, 1996.


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