Virginia’s 2010 legislative session began January 13 and continued until March13. Overwhelmingly, the commonwealth’s budget crisis took center stage in the legislature and it will be the sole focus of the reconvened session beginning on April 21. Despite the importance of the budget, the legislature also found time to take up several pieces of elections reform legislation. The majority of these bills never made it to the floor of the House or the Senate, others died after crossing between the chambers, and some await the governor’s signature. The tone of these bills varied drastically from general housekeeping measures to proposals to establish early voting or to requiring proof of citizenship to be supplied with voter registration applications.
Whether the governor signs or vetoes any or all of the six pieces of election legislation on his desk, few Virginians will notice the difference in the electoral process. State Senator Martin’s bills SB 49 and SB 51 will allow partisan poll watchers to vote by absentee ballot, watch polls in any district in Virginia (not just their own), and use their cell phones while there. His SB 60 will make it more difficult to access application records for absentee voters and his SB 313 will allow absentee voters who chose to vote on Election Day to do so either at their proper polling place, or at a centralized location. State Senator Obenshain sponsored SB 137, which will allow commissioners of revenue or treasurers across the commonwealth to use voter registration records for tax purposes. The last bill comes from State Senator Northam; SB654 would allow the State Board of Elections to maintain and supply their records electronically. None of these bills will have any significant or tangible impact on the Congressional elections in November.
The bills that did not make it out of the 2010 legislative session play a more significant role on the elections process in Virginia. The bills that would have done the most to either expand or contract the rights of voters in Virginia did not pass. House Bill 498, SB 134, and SB301 each would have stripped Virginians of their right to attest to their identity on Election Day and severely limited the types of identification accepted at the polls. House Bill 341 and HB 497 would have gone even further, requiring copies of narrowly defined proof of citizenship to be supplied with voter registration applications in order to be placed on the rolls. Each of these bills would have made it significantly more difficult for Virginians to register to vote and to cast ballots that counted on Election Day. The State Senate acted quickly to stop each of these, allowing none to move beyond the committee stage, and stopping most in sub-committee.
In contrast, several failed bills would have made voting easier for Virginians. HB 157, HB 161, and SB 83 would have established no-excuse absentee voting and HB 158, HB 185, and HB 362 would have created an early voting period in the commonwealth. These systems allow more voters to participate in the election before Election Day and decrease the burden on local elections offices on Election Day. In 2008, more than 17 million voters took advantage of early voting – none were in Virginia, according to data from the Election Assistance Commission. HB 786 would have extended the polling hours to 8 p.m., allowing voters more time to get to the polls. Additionally, HJR 6, HJR 16, HJR 42, HJR 70, HJR 116, and SJR 62 each would have allowed the General Assembly to restore voting rights to convicted felons who had completed their sentences. The permanent disenfranchisement of felons in Virginia affects almost seven percent of the voting-age population and almost 20 percent of the African American population, according to the recent testimony given by NAACP Washington Bureau director, Hilary O. Shelton at a March 16 House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on the Democracy Restoration Act.
Some of the election reform legislation proposed in Virginia will be revisited next year or reintroduced in 2012. With the few pieces of reform legislation that made it through the General Assembly to the governor’s desk, there is little that will ultimately change for Virginia’s voters. Legislation, both expansive and restrictive, will return again and without a major shift in either the makeup of the officials in Richmond or a much stronger interest from the voters, little is likely to change in the future.