Elections; absentee voting; no-excuse, in-person. (SB979)
Introduced By
Sen. Roz Dance (D-Petersburg) with support from co-patrons Sen. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth), and Sen. Scott Surovell (D-Mount Vernon)
Progress
✓ |
Introduced |
☐ |
Passed Committee |
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Passed House |
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Passed Senate |
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Signed by Governor |
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Became Law |
Description
Elections; absentee voting; no-excuse, in-person. Allows qualified voters to vote absentee in person without providing an excuse for not being able to vote in person on election day. The bill retains the statutory list of specific reasons allowing a voter to cast an absentee ballot by mail. Read the Bill »
Status
01/31/2017: Incorporated into Another Bill
History
Date | Action |
---|---|
01/03/2017 | Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17102132D |
01/03/2017 | Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections |
01/23/2017 | Impact statement from DPB (SB979) |
01/31/2017 | Incorporated by Privileges and Elections (SB844-Howell) (13-Y 0-N) (see vote tally) |
Comments
The ACLU strongly supports legislation that allows all Virginia voters to vote by absentee ballot either by mail or in-person without providing a reason. The ACLU of Virginia continues to be concerned about the effects and limitations of the current excuse-based system and encourages legislators to enact a truly equal “no-excuse” absentee voting law that is available in-person and by mail for all Virginia voters. If Virginia law limits no-excuse absentee voting to in-person only, qualified voters may be excluded from participating based upon a lack of readily accessible transportation, geography, income status, and the constraints of modern-day individuals and families. The “excuse-based” absentee voting law also continues to present concerns that certain classes of voters are being elevated. The excused-based system also continues to threaten the privacy of voters who vote by absentee ballot. The law currently requires voters to disclose private and sensitive information in order to vote by absentee ballot. And, this information is being required by a law that provides no assurance that the information will be held confidential and secure, or that it will be available to defend against allegations of absentee ballot fraud, which is a class 4 felony for which there is no statute of limitations. We strongly advocate that all voters should be permitted to vote by absentee ballot.
I strongly support this bill. A functioning democracy needs participation in elections. Easy early voting options are a vital tool to help increase election turn-out.