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2022 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections

Chair: Adam P. Ebbin

Clerk: Hobie Lehman, Jasmine VanDyke
Staff: Brooks Braun
Date of Meeting: February 22, 2022
Time and Place: 15 mins after Senate / SR 3 / Public register Zoom via GA website
https://virginia-senate.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=3

H.B. 34

Patron: Campbell, R.R.

Absentee voting; return of absentee ballots; drop-off locations. Repeals the provisions of law providing for the establishment of drop-off locations for the return of absentee ballots.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 24.2-706, 24.2-707, 24.2-709, and 24.2-709.1 of the Code of Virginia, and to repeal § 24.2-707.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to absentee voting; return of absentee ballots; drop-off locations.

22102594D

H.B. 39

Patron: Scott, P.A.

Absentee voting in person; available beginning on the fourteenth day prior to election; hours of operation. Limits absentee voting in person to the two weeks immediately preceding an election. During these two weeks, the bill requires that absentee voting in person be available Monday through Saturday, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. each day.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 24.2-701 and 24.2-701.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to absentee voting in person; available beginning on the fourteenth day prior to election; hours of operation.

22101282D

H.B. 46

Patron: Ware

Elections; voter identification containing a photograph required; permanent absentee voter list repealed. Requires presentation of a form of identification containing a photograph in order to vote. The bill repeals the provisions of law permitting a voter who does not have one of the required forms of identification to vote after signing a statement, subject to felony penalties for false statements, that he is the named registered voter he claims to be. Instead, the bill provides that such voter is entitled to cast a provisional ballot. The bill also repeals the provisions of law by which any registered voter may apply to receive absentee ballots for all elections in which he is eligible to vote and remains on the list until the voter requests in writing to be removed from the list, the voter's registration is canceled or placed on inactive status pursuant to law, or the voter moves to a different address not in the same county or city of his registration.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 24.2-404, as it is currently effective and as it shall become effective, 24.2-411.3, 24.2-643, 24.2-653, 24.2-653.01, 24.2-701, 24.2-701.1, 24.2-709, and 24.2-709.1 of the Code of Virginia and to repeal § 24.2-703.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to elections; voter identification containing a photograph required; availability of absentee voting in person; processing returned absentee ballots; permanent absentee voter list repealed.

22106214D

H.B. 185

Patron: Ransone

Voter registration; registration permitted up to and including the day of the election. Repeals a provision that would permit any person who is qualified to register to vote to register to vote in person up to and including the day of the election, notwithstanding any deadline for the close of registration records. The repeal will limit the persons who are entitled to register to vote after the close of registration records to (i) any member of a uniformed service of the United States who is on active duty, (ii) any person residing temporarily outside of the United States, and (iii) the spouse or dependent residing with someone listed in (i) or (ii).

A BILL to repeal Chapter 1153 of the Acts of Assembly of 2020, relating to voter registration; registration permitted up to and including the day of the election.

22102235D

H.B. 196

Patron: Webert

Absentee voting; permanent absentee voter list repealed. Repeals the provisions of law by which any registered voter may apply to receive absentee ballots for all elections in which he is eligible to vote and remains on the list until the voter requests in writing to be removed from the list, the voter's registration is canceled or placed on inactive status pursuant to law, or the voter moves to a different address not in the same county or city of his registration.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 24.2-701 of the Code of Virginia and to repeal § 24.2-703.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to absentee voting; permanent absentee voter list repealed.

22100301D

H.B. 305

Patron: Ransone

Elections; State Board of Elections; membership; appointment of Commissioner of Elections. Makes the State Board of Elections responsible for appointing the Commissioner of Elections and removes the Governor's ability to appoint to the Department of Elections a deputy commissioner or a confidential policy advisor. The bill also increases the State Board of Elections from five members to seven and staggers those initial terms so that three members are appointed in 2023 and every four years thereafter, two members are appointed in 2024 and every four years thereafter, and two members are appointed in 2025 and every four years thereafter.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 2.2-106, 2.2-2905, and 24.2-102 of the Code of Virginia, relating to State Board of Elections; Commissioner of Elections.

22106209D

H.B. 439

Patron: VanValkenburg

Absentee ballots; materials included; information on proposed constitutional amendments and referenda. Provides that whenever there is a proposed constitutional amendment or statewide referendum on the ballot, the printed instructions with the absentee ballot materials are required to include the website address where the explanation for such amendment or referendum is posted on the Department of Elections website.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 24.2-706 of the Code of Virginia, relating to absentee ballots; materials included; information on proposed constitutional amendments and referenda.

22105991D

H.B. 492

Patron: Bulova

Campaign finance; record retention requirements and reviews of campaign finance disclosure reports. Requires campaign committee treasurers to retain certain records that may be used in reviews of campaign committee accounts. The bill gives the Department of Elections the authority and duty to conduct reviews of a percentage of campaign committees and to report the results of such reviews annually to the State Board of Elections, the Governor, the and General Assembly and make such report available on the Department's website.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 24.2-946 and 24.2-947.3 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Article 3 of Chapter 9.3 of Title 24.2 a section numbered 24.2-948.5, relating to campaign finance; record retention requirements and reviews of campaign finance disclosure reports.

22101163D

H.B. 528

Patron: Batten

Absentee voting; unsolicited absentee ballot applications; required information. Requires any individual or organization sending an application for an absentee ballot to a registered voter that was not solicited or requested by the registered voter to include with the application instructions on completing the application and submitting it to the appropriate general registrar. The bill requires a statement that the application is not being sent by any state or local government official or agency on the envelope containing the application or on the first page of any enclosed materials. Such individuals and organizations are required to use the information provided in the list of registered voters acquired by such individual or organization from the Department of Elections pursuant to law, and a violation of this requirement is a Class 4 misdemeanor. The bill requires the Department of Elections to ensure, when providing the list of registered voters to such individual or organization for purposes of sending unsolicited absentee ballot applications, that no voter is included on the list provided if such voter has applied for an absentee ballot on or before the date the list is requested. The bill also provides that no absentee ballot sent to a registered voter that was not solicited or requested by the registered voter may be pre-populated with information the applicant is required to provide.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Chapter 7 of Title 24.2 a section numbered 24.2-714, relating to absentee voting; unsolicited absentee ballot applications; required information.

22100934D

H.B. 544

Patron: Batten

Voter identification; optional restrictive identification requirement. Allows a voter to opt into being required to show a valid photo identification issued by the Commonwealth, one of its political subdivisions, or the United States when voting in person. When a voter offers to vote and the pollbook indicates he has opted into such requirement, he shall be required to show a valid photo identification issued by the Commonwealth, one of its political subdivisions, or the United States in order to vote a regular ballot. The bill requires the voter registration application to permit an applicant to opt into this requirement and the Department of Elections to provide the means for currently registered voters to opt in as well.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 24.2-418 and 24.2-643 of the Code of Virginia, relating to voter identification; optional restrictive identification requirement.

22100935D

H.B. 895

Patron: Kilgore

Elections; conduct of election; election results; risk-limiting audits. Requires local electoral boards and general registrars to perform certain risk-limiting audits, defined in the bill, under the supervision of the Department of Elections and in accordance with the procedures prescribed by the State Board of Elections. The bill provides that localities are required to participate in such audits at least once every five years. The bill also provides that the Department shall submit a report on the results of such audits to the State Board. The provisions of the bill requiring that such audits be conducted (i) for at least one randomly selected contested race for the General Assembly in the year of a general election for members of the General Assembly and (i) for any other contested race that is necessary to ensure that each locality participates in a risk-limiting audit of an office within its jurisdiction at least once every five years or that the State Board finds appropriate has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2023. The provision of the bill requiring that such audits be conducted for at least one randomly selected contested race for an office that requires certification by the State Board in the year of general election for any local office has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2024.

 A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 24.2-669, 24.2-671, and 24.2-679 of the Code of Virginia; to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 24.2-671.2; and to repeal § 24.2-671.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to elections; conduct of election; election results; risk-limiting audits.

22105719D

H.B. 902

Patron: Avoli

Removal of county courthouse; Augusta County; authorization by electorate. Allows Augusta County to hold a referendum on the courthouse removal in 2022, despite the 10-year waiting requirement, if plans are developed for (i) relocating to a newly constructed courthouse in Augusta County and (ii) either (a) the renovation and expansion of the current courthouse in the City of Staunton or (b) the construction of a new courthouse in the City of Staunton. The result of the referendum shall be binding.

A BILL to allow for a referendum to be held in 2022, relating to the removal of the Augusta County courthouse from the City of Staunton to Augusta County.

22105194D

H.B. 956

Patron: LaRock

Absentee voting; deadline for returning absentee ballot. Requires that an absentee ballot be received before the closing of the polls on election day in order to be counted. Currently, an absentee ballot that is received after the closing of the polls but before noon on the third day after the election is counted if it is postmarked on or before the date of the election.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 24.2-709 of the Code of Virginia, relating to absentee voting; deadline for returning absentee ballot.

22102801D

H.B. 1082

Patron: Leftwich

Elections; time of certain local elections. Removes a provision that requires local elections for mayor, members of a local governing body, or members of an elected school board to be held at the time of the November general election. The bill allows cities and towns that made the transition between July 1, 2021, and July 1, 2022, to provide by ordinance for its reversal.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-1400 of the Code of Virginia and to repeal the second enactment of Chapter 103 of the Acts of Assembly of 2021, Special Session I, relating to elections; time of certain local elections.

22102587D

H.B. 1090

Patron: Webert

Voter identification; identification containing a photograph required. Requires presentation of a form of identification containing a photograph in order to vote. The bill repeals the provisions of law permitting a voter who does not have one of the required forms of identification to vote after signing a statement, subject to felony penalties for false statements, that he is the named registered voter he claims to be. Instead, the bill provides that such voter is entitled to cast a provisional ballot.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 24.2-404, as it is currently effective and as it shall become effective, 24.2-411.3, 24.2-643, 24.2-653, 24.2-653.01, 24.2-701, and 24.2-701.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to voter identification; identification containing a photograph required.

22100305D