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2021 SPECIAL SESSION I

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Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections

Chair: R. Creigh Deeds

Clerk: John Garrett
Staff: Brooks Braun
Date of Meeting: February 16, 2021
Time and Place: 15 mins aft adj. SR W Register to speak @ Va Gen Assembly website
https://virginia-senate.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=3

H.B. 1810

Patron: VanValkenburg

Voter registration; failure of online voter registration system; deadline extension. Provides that in the event that a failure of the Virginia online voter registration system occurs prior to the close of registration records, the Governor has the authority to order the online voter registration system to be available for registration activities after the date for closing the registration records for a period of time equal to the amount of time during which the online voter registration system was unavailable for registration activities, rounded up to the nearest whole day, plus an additional day to allow for voter education efforts. The extension of registration activities shall apply to in-person registration and mail voter registration applications. 

H.B. 1888

Patron: VanValkenburg

Absentee voting; procedural and process reforms; availability and accessibility reforms; penalty. Makes various reforms to absentee voting processes and procedures, including those related to availability and accessibility. The bill requires certain actions to be taken to process absentee ballots returned before the day of an election, including verifying the correct completion of the voter affirmation statement, and provides for an opportunity for an absentee voter to make corrections to the statement in certain circumstances. The bill requires the establishment of drop-off locations for the return of voted absentee ballots. Additionally, a central absentee voter precinct is required to be established in each locality; currently, establishment is optional. On the day of the election, officers of election are required to begin processing absentee ballots in the central absentee voter precincts prior to the close of polls, but no ballot vote counts are permitted to be transmitted outside of the central absentee voter precinct before the close of polls; a violation of such prohibition is a Class 1 misdemeanor. When reporting election results to the Department of Elections, the general registrars are required to report absentee ballots cast early in person separately from all other absentee ballots. Additionally, a voter who has applied for and received an absentee ballot may choose to instead vote at his polling place on election day, and such voter shall be entitled to cast a provisional ballot. The bill requires a ballot marking tool with screen reader assistive technology to be made available for absentee voters with a print disability. Restrictions on the availability of absentee voting for first-time voters who registered by mail are repealed. The bill contains technical amendments for organizational and readability purposes.

H.B. 1890

Patron: Price

Elections; prohibited discrimination in voting and elections administration; required process for enacting certain covered practices; civil causes of action. Prohibits any voting qualification or any standard, practice, or procedure related to voting from being imposed or applied in a manner that results in the denial or abridgment of the right of any United States citizen to vote based on his race or color or membership in a language minority group. The bill further prohibits at-large methods of election from being imposed or applied in a locality in a manner that impairs the ability of a protected class, defined in the bill, to elect candidates of its choice or to influence the outcome of an election, by diluting or abridging the rights of voters who are members of a protected class. Prior to enacting or administering a covered practice, defined in the bill, the governing body of a locality is required to publish the proposed covered practice and accept public comment for a minimum of 30 days on the proposed covered practice; after the public comment period, a 30-day waiting period is required. During this period, any person who will be subject to or affected by the covered practice may challenge the covered practice as (i) having the purpose or effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on the basis of race or color or membership in a language minority group or (ii) resulting in the retrogression in the position of members of a racial or ethnic group with respect to their effective exercise of the electoral franchise. The bill permits the local governing body to instead submit the proposed covered practice to the Office of the Attorney General for issuance of a certification of no objection and, once such certification is issued, to enact or administer the covered practice. Certain unlawful actions, including knowingly communicating false information to voters, that are currently subject to criminal penalties will create civil causes of action under the bill. The bill authorizes the Attorney General to commence civil actions when there is reasonable cause to believe that a violation of an election law has occurred and the rights of any voter or group of voters have been affected by the violation. Civil penalties assessed as a result of such action are payable to the Voter Education and Outreach Fund, established by the bill. Current provisions related to language minority accessibility are moved to a newly created chapter relating to the rights of voters.

H.B. 1921

Patron: Price

Assistance for certain voters; curbside voting. Clarifies that any voter with a permanent physical disability, temporary physical disability, or injury is entitled to vote outside of the polling place. The bill further provides that during a declared state of emergency related to a communicable disease of public health threat, any voter shall be entitled to vote outside of the polling place. The bill requires that the area designated for voting outside of the polling place be clearly marked and instructions on how the voter is to notify an officer of election of his request to vote outside of the polling place be prominently displayed. The bill makes technical amendments for clarity and organizational purposes.

H.B. 1952

Patron: Simon


Campaign finance; prohibited personal use; child care exception. Prohibits any person from converting any moneys, securities, or like intangible personal property contributed to a candidate or a candidate's campaign committee to his personal use, the personal use of the candidate, or the personal use of a member of the candidate's immediate family. Current law prohibits such conversion of contributions to personal use specifically with regard to disbursement of surplus funds at the dissolution of a campaign or political committee. The bill provides that a contribution is considered to have been converted to personal use if the contribution, in whole or in part, is used to fulfill any commitment, obligation, or expense that would exist irrespective of the person's seeking, holding, or maintaining public office but excepts from "personal use" the ordinary and accepted expenses related to campaigning for or holding elective office, including the use of campaign funds to pay for the candidate's child care expenses that are incurred as a direct result of campaign activity. The bill directs the Attorney General to issue an advisory opinion explaining the provisions of the Campaign Finance Disclosure Act of 2006 (§ 24.2-945 et seq.) that prohibit the personal use of campaign funds. The bill directs the State Board of Elections to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill and to provide an updated summary of Virginia campaign finance law that reflects the Attorney General's opinion and any new regulations promulgated by the Board.

H.B. 1968

Patron: Bagby

Absentee voting; early in person; availability on Sundays. Permits the electoral board or general registrar of a county or city to provide absentee voting in person in the office of the general registrar or voter satellite office on Sundays.

H.B. 2020

Patron: Helmer

Nomination of candidates for elected offices; restrictions on nomination method selected by political party. Provides that a method of nomination for elected office may not be selected if such method will have the practical effect of excluding participation in the nominating process by qualified voters who are unable to attend meetings because they are (i) a member of a uniformed service on active duty, (ii) temporarily residing outside of the United States, (iii) a student attending a school or institution of higher education, (iv) a person with a disability, or (v) a person who has a communicable disease of public health threat or who may have come in contact with a person with such disease.. However, such restriction does not apply when selecting a candidate for a special election or nominating a candidate, or in the event that no candidate files the required paperwork by the prescribed deadline. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2024.

H.B. 2082

Patron: Levine

Virginia Redistricting Commission; transparency in redistricting process. Requires meetings and hearings of the Virginia Redistricting Commission to be livestreamed, whether held virtually or in person, and to allow for public comment. Meetings and hearings that are held in person are required to be conducted in different regions of the Commonwealth, including the Northern Virginia region, the Central Virginia region, the Hampton Roads region, the Southside region, and the Southwest region. An additional public hearing is required to be held in the event that the initial plan for districts submitted by the Commission is rejected by the General Assembly. If adjustments are made to a proposed plan at any stage in response to public comment, the adjusted proposed plan is required to be published on the Commission's website. The bill requires all meetings and hearings of the Supreme Court of Virginia regarding the establishment of districts to be open to the public.

H.B. 2125

Patron: Lopez

Voter registration; preregistration for persons 16 years of age or older. Permits a person who is otherwise qualified to register to vote and is 16 years of age or older, but who will not be 18 years of age on or before the day of the next general election, to preregister to vote. The preregistration does not entitle such person to vote in any election except as already permitted by law. The bill requires the Department of Elections to maintain a record of all preregistered voters in the Virginia voter registration system, which shall automatically register a person who is preregistered upon that person reaching 18 years or age or becoming eligible for advance registration as already permitted by law, whichever comes first. The bill requires the Department to provide to the general registrars voter confirmation documents for such voters. The bill has a delayed effective date of October 1, 2022.

H.B. 2198

Patron: Convirs-Fowler

Local elections for governing bodies; elections for school boards; qualification of voters. Provides that in a locality that imposes district-based or ward-based residency requirements for members of the governing body or school board, the member elected from each district or ward is to be elected by the qualified voters of that district or ward and not by the locality at large. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2022.

H.B. 2324

Patron: Watts

Virginia Redistricting Commission; removal of commissioners; emergency. Provides for the removal of a commissioner from the Virginia Redistricting Commission for neglect of duty or gross misconduct. Removal would require affirmative votes of at least six of the eight legislative commissioners and at least six of the eight citizen commissioners. Such a vote is required to be recorded and taken in a public meeting. The bill contains an emergency clause.

EMERGENCY

H.J.R. 555

Patron: Herring

Constitutional amendment (first reference); franchise and officers; felon disenfranchisement; automatic restoration of political rights. Provides that no person who has been convicted of a felony shall be qualified to vote until the completion of his sentence of imprisonment, at which time, without further action required of him, his political rights, including the right to vote, shall be restored. A person convicted of a felony may also have his civil rights restored by the Governor or other appropriate authority. This resolution incorporates HJ 546.

H.J.R. 582

Patron: Sickles

Constitutional amendment (first reference); marriage; repeal of same-sex marriage prohibition; affirmative right to marry. Repeals the constitutional provision defining marriage as only a union between one man and one woman as well as the related provisions that are no longer valid as a result of the United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015). The amendment provides that the right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of persons and requires the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions and agents to issue marriage licenses, recognize marriages, and treat all marriages equally under the law, regardless of the sex or gender of the parties to the marriage. Religious organizations and clergy acting in their religious capacity have the right to refuse to perform any marriage. This resolution incorporates HJ 539 and HJ 557.