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2023 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections

Chair: Lionell Spruill, Sr.

Clerk: Hobie Lehman, Hannah Dockery
Staff: Brooks Braun
Date of Meeting: February 14, 2023
Time and Place: 15 mins after Senate Adjourns / Senate Room 3, The Capitol

H.B. 1377

Patron: Greenhalgh

Voter registration; cancellation for persons known to be deceased or disqualified to vote; deadline. Requires general registrars to cancel the voter registration of persons known by him to be deceased or disqualified to vote within seven days of discovering that the person is no longer entitled to be registered. Current law directs registrars to cancel a voter's registration for certain reasons and on the basis of certain information; the bill retains those requirements.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 24.2-427 of the Code of Virginia, relating to voter registration; cancellation for persons known to be deceased or disqualified to vote; deadline.

23100521D

H.B. 1444

Patron: Ware

Elections; voter 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, 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 elections; voter identification containing a photograph required.

23104635D

H.B. 1574

Patron: Walker

School board selection; referendum on direct election of school board members by voters; authorization by local governing body. Allows the governing body of a county, city, or town to file a petition with the circuit court of the county or city or of the county within which the town or the greater part thereof is located asking that a referendum be held on the question of whether the members of the school board of the county, city, or town shall be elected directly by the voters.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 22.1-57.2 of the Code of Virginia, relating to school board selection; referendum on direct election of school board members by voters; authorization by local governing body.

23103141D

H.B. 1576

Patron: Walker

School board for the City of Lynchburg; staggered terms in the event of election. Requires, in the event that the school board for the City of Lynchburg is required to be elected by popular vote in accordance with relevant law that permits a voter referendum on the question of changing the method of school board member selection from appointment to election, such school board to be elected for four-year terms and the school board elections to alternate biennially between the election of one member from each of the four ward districts and the election of one member from each of the three at-large districts to ensure staggered terms. The bill also establishes the timeline and process for the expiration of the terms of the nine then-currently appointed members and the election of the first seven elected members of such school board in the event of such a change in the school board member selection method in the City of Lynchburg.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 22.1-57.3:1.3, relating to school board for the City of Lynchburg; staggered terms in the event of election.

23103398D

H.B. 1680

Patron: Ransone

Voter registration; registration after the close of registration records; required affirmation. Requires the Department of Elections to prescribe procedures for the handling and counting of ballots cast by persons who register to vote on the day of the election, including a requirement that such person affirm, subject to felony penalties for making false statements, that he is not intentionally voting more than once in the same election, whether in the same or a different jurisdiction, and that he is not intentionally registering to vote at more than one residence at the same time, both of which constitute the crime of election fraud and are punishable as a Class 6 felony.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 24.2-420.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to voter registration; registration after the close of registration records; required affirmation.

23104610D

H.B. 1683

Patron: Ransone

Voter registration; final day of registration; notice requirements. Requires notice of the last day of voter registration to be published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the county or city, if one is available. Such notice is also required to be posted on the official website of the county or city. 

A BILL to amend and reenact § 24.2-415 of the Code of Virginia, relating to voter registration; final day of registration; notice requirements.

23100444D

H.B. 1693

Patron: McGuire

Absentee voting; return of absentee ballots; drop-off locations. Repeals the provisions of the Code 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.

23100133D

H.B. 1793

Patron: Ransone

Voter registration through the Department of Motor Vehicles; optional transmission of information. Provides that customers of the Department of Motor Vehicles shall be presented with the option to have their relevant information transmitted to the Department of Elections for voter registration purposes in accordance with federal law. Currently, this information is transmitted unless the DMV customer specifically declines to have such information transmitted.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 24.2-411.3 of the Code of Virginia, relating to voter registration; registration through the Department of Motor Vehicles; optional transmission of information.

23100848D

H.B. 1877

Patron: Scott, P.A.

Absentee voting; availability of absentee voting in person. Limits absentee voting in person to the two weeks immediately preceding an election. Under current law, absentee voting in person is available beginning on the forty-fifth day prior to an election.

 A BILL to amend and reenact § 24.2-701.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to absentee voting; availability of absentee voting in person.

23104633D

H.B. 1910

Patron: Batten

Absentee voting; unsolicited absentee ballot applications; required information; penalty. Requires any 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 to be printed on the envelope containing the application or on the first page of any enclosed materials. The bill specifies that organizations are required to use the information provided in the list of registered voters acquired by such organization from the Department of Elections pursuant to relevant law and that a violation of this requirement is a Class 4 misdemeanor. The bill also requires the Department of Elections to ensure, when providing such list to such organization for purposes of sending unsolicited applications, that no voter is included on such list if such voter has applied for an absentee ballot on or before the date such list is requested. Finally, the bill provides that no application for an absentee ballot sent to a registered voter that was not solicited or requested by the registered voter may be pre-populated with information that 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; penalty.

23101739D

H.B. 1947

Patron: Bloxom

Absentee voting; annual absentee voter list. Eliminates the permanent absentee voter list and provides for an annual absentee voter list by which any eligible voter who annually files an application and is enrolled on the list receives an absentee ballot for any election in which he is eligible to vote in the ensuing calendar year. The application for the annual absentee voter list requires, at a minimum, the voter to provide his printed name, his date of birth, and the last four digits of his social security number.

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

23100849D

H.B. 1948

Patron: Bloxom

Elections; absentee voting; witness requirement; required information on return ballot envelope; unique identifier. Removes the witness requirement for absentee ballots and replaces it with the requirement that the voter provide the last four digits of his social security number and his date of birth. The bill provides that the unique identifier assigned to the voter in the voter registration system will also be accepted in place of the last four digits of the voter's social security number for such purposes.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 24.2-404, 24.2-702.1, 24.2-704, 24.2-706, and 24.2-707 of the Code of Virginia, relating to absentee voting; witness requirement; required information on return ballot envelope; unique identifier.

23105545D

H.B. 2234

Patron: Wachsmann

Voter registration; registering in person up to and including the day of the election; limited to certain persons. Provides that only members of a uniformed service, as defined in relevant law, persons who are residing temporarily outside of the United States, and spouses or dependents of such members or persons are entitled to register to vote after the close of registration records in person up to and including the day of the election. Under current law, any person who is qualified to register to vote is entitled to register to vote after the close of registration records up to and including the day of the election.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 24.2-420.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to voter registration; registering in person up to and including the day of the election; limited to certain persons.

23101695D

H.B. 2257

Patron: Cordoza

Elections; local offices; election of council for cities and towns; exemption from district-based and ward-based restrictions for small localities. Exempts any city or town with a population of 25,000 or fewer persons that imposes district-based or ward-based residency requirements for members of the city or town council from the requirement that the member elected from each district or ward be elected by the qualified voters of that district or ward and not by the locality at large.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 24.2-222 of the Code of Virginia, relating to elections; local offices; election of council for cities and towns; exemption from district-based and ward-based restrictions for small localities.

23103235D

H.B. 2289

Patron: Williams

Procedure for removal of elected and certain appointed officers by courts. Sets out the procedure by which, and clarifies the reasons for which, an elected officer or officer who has been appointed to fill an elective office may be removed from office. The bill requires, among other things, that the general registrar review the petition and determine its sufficiency in accordance with the uniform standards approved by the State Board of Elections and that the attorney for the Commonwealth review the petition to determine if valid grounds exist to remove the officer. If the attorney for the Commonwealth is the elected official who is subject to the removal petition, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia is tasked with appointing an alternate attorney for the Commonwealth. This bill is a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 24.2-233, as it is currently effective and as it shall become effective, and 24.2-235 through 24.2-238 of the Code of Virginia, relating to procedure for removal of elected and certain appointed officers by courts.

23104324D

H.B. 2324

Patron: Cordoza

Recount elections; recount standards; elections for offices to which more than one candidate can be elected. Directs the State Board of Elections to promulgate standards and instructions for the conduct of recounts in elections for any office to which more than one candidate can be elected. Such standards and instructions shall include which candidates apparently nominated or elected are required to be named in the petition for a recount or served a copy of the petition for a recount.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 24.2-802 of the Code of Virginia, relating to recount elections; recount standards; elections for offices to which more than one candidate can be elected.

23103681D

H.B. 2443

Patron: Bloxom

Certificates of election; persons elected by write-in votes; exception for certain localities. Provides that in an election for a local office in a locality with a population of no more than 4,000 persons, if the person having the highest number of votes for the office is elected by write-in votes and is not qualified to hold such office or declines to assume such office, the person having the next highest number of votes shall be deemed to have been elected to such office and shall receive the certificate of election.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 24.2-673 of the Code of Virginia, relating to certificates of election; persons elected by write-in votes; exception for certain localities.

23103540D

H.B. 2454

Patron: Campbell, E.H.

Voter registration; monthly list maintenance. Requires the Department of Elections to conduct and complete voter list maintenance monthly using change of address information supplied by the United States Postal Service, except that such list maintenance will not be conducted during the 90 days prior to a federal primary or general election. Following any federal general election, the Department shall, within 30 days of such election, conduct and complete the list maintenance for the period beginning 90 days prior to the federal primary election through the date of the federal general election. The bill requires the Department to transmit the change of address information to the general registrars monthly and to include with such information the date on which it was received by the Department.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 24.2-428 of the Code of Virginia, relating to voter registration; monthly list maintenance.

23104541D

H.B. 2471

Patron: Batten

General registrars; petition for removal. Provides for the removal of a general registrar by the circuit court upon a petition signed by a majority of the members of the State Board of Elections or a majority of the members of the local electoral board. Currently, a local electoral board may remove a general registrar with a majority vote, while the State Board of Elections may petition the circuit court to remove a general registrar only after petitioning the local electoral board to remove the registrar and the electoral board fails to do so. The bill requires the Virginia Division of Risk Management to assign counsel to the defense of any member of a local electoral board or general registrar subject to a petition for removal, upon that member's or registrar's application.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 24.2-103, 24.2-109, 24.2-234, and 24.2-235 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 24.2-234.1, relating to general registrars; petition for removal.

23104108D