Vote centers; pilot program. (HB1599)

Introduced By

Del. Rich Anderson (R-Woodbridge)

Progress

Introduced
Passed Committee
Passed House
Passed Senate
Signed by Governor
Became Law

Description

Vote centers; pilot program. Authorizes the State Board of Elections to provide for a pilot program in which localities may establish vote centers for use in primary elections instead of having to operate a polling place for every precinct in the locality. A vote center will consist of a location where voters from two or more designated precincts may vote. The State Board shall publish a report on the program by August 15 of any year in which a vote center is used. The provisions of the bill expire on December 31, 2016. Read the Bill »

Outcome

Bill Has Failed

History

DateAction
01/06/2013Committee
01/06/2013Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/13 13102801D
01/06/2013Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections
01/11/2013Assigned P & E sub: Campaign Finance Subcommittee
01/16/2013Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (6-Y 0-N)
01/21/2013Impact statement from DPB (HB1599)
01/25/2013Reported from Privileges and Elections with substitute (12-Y 10-N) (see vote tally)
01/25/2013Committee substitute printed 13104188D-H1
01/28/2013Incorporates HB1942
01/28/2013Read first time
01/29/2013Read second time
01/29/2013Committee substitute agreed to 13104188D-H1
01/29/2013Pending question ordered
01/29/2013Engrossment refused by House
02/14/2013Impact statement from DPB (HB1599H1)

Video

This bill was discussed on the floor of the General Assembly. Below is all of the video that we have of that discussion, 1 clip in all, totaling 21 minutes.

Duplicate Bills

The following bills are identical to this one: HB1942.

Comments

ACLU-VA Voting Rights, tracking this bill in Photosynthesis, notes:

The ACLU of Virginia is monitoring this bill. The ACLU of Virginia supports creating opportunities to make voting easier, however the Virginia Constitution requires that elections be administered uniformly throughout the Commonwealth.

Editor’s Pick
Rick Sincere writes:

This is a great idea.

In the June 2012 Republican Senate primary in Charlottesville, only 427 out of more than 29,000 registered voters cast a ballot. In one precinct, only one voter showed up all day -- even though that precinct had to be fully staffed from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m., just like all the others.

Similarly, in the 2012 Republican presidential primary in Charlottesville, only 750 voters (out of a possible 28,264) cast a ballot. One precinct -- fully staffed for 14 hours -- saw only 9 voters all day.

If the City of Charlottesville had been able to operate vote centers for those two elections, we would have been able to save taxpayers about $25,000 or $30,000.

Using vote centers to consolidate operations in low-turnout elections like this will save a lot of money and manpower and will be a real morale-booster for election officials around the Commonwealth.

Sarah Williams writes:

This provision would assist localities in reducing the cost of elections. Since primaries draw fewer voters in most localities, across Virginia the savings would be significant. I know that this would help here in Bristol, where a very small percentage of voters show up for primaries.

Sheila Lewis writes:

A voting center for a primary will seem more direct since most voters don't see this as part of the overall process; a primary is the starting point of the process.