Voting Rights
Here in Virginia, we have made a lot of progress on voting rights in the last few years, especially under Democratic leadership in 2020 and 2021. I have made it a priority to make it easier to vote in Virginia. During the 2019 session, I passed HB 1790, which standardizes closing procedures at absentee voting polling places, ensuring that voters in line when the polls close can still vote. I also introduced HB 1752, which would have made Election Day a school holiday in Virginia, and was happy to vote for legislation in 2020 that made Election Day a holiday statewide. In the 2020 session, my bill HB 220 was passed into law and included in the budget to provide prepaid postage on absentee ballot return envelopes. With more voters than ever voting absentee during the COVID-19 pandemic, this measure ensured that voters could cast their ballots safely, and at no cost.
I have served on the House Privileges and Elections Committee since 2019, and in my three sessions on the committee, have been able to help pass laws that greatly expand voter access in the Commonwealth. Virginia now has no-excuse early voting, automatic voter registration at the DMV, and same-day voter registration. Virginia voters also have the opportunity to cast their ballots by mail and in-person starting 45 days prior to every election. Virginians can now vote on their own schedules at a time convenient to them. The photo I.D. requirement at the polls is also gone: while voters still have to identify themselves, many more forms of identification have been added, as studies have shown photo requirements disproportionately disenfranchise minorities, the elderly, and low income communities.
Find the full list of valid I.D.s here: https://www.elections.virginia.gov/media/formswarehouse/voter-id/outreach-materials/documents/Voter-Identification-Chart-Rev-4-28-21.pdf
Virginia has a strong election security system, maintained by the Virginia Department of Elections. Find out more about the measures they take to protect voters and elections here: https://www.elections.virginia.gov/resultsreports/election-security/. In addition to the work done by the Virginia Department of Elections, the low number of voter fraud attempts in Virginia has also corresponded with expanded voter access. When more people can fairly and legally vote, fewer people attempt to vote illegally.
This session, I called a vote on SJ 5 in the House Privileges and Elections Committee. SJ 5 would have restored voting rights to Virginians who were released from prison after serving time for felony convictions. Virginia and Kentucky are the only two states in the nation that permanently disenfranchise citizens upon all felony convictions, save a petition of restoration of rights from the governor. Many of these policies stem from Jim Crow-era disenfranchisement efforts and do not reflect Virginia today. Unfortunately, SJ 5 was voted down along partisan lines. I will continue to support restoration of rights efforts in coming years.
In 2016, Virginia was ranked as 49th on the list of easiest states to vote in, and in 2020, we were the 12th. Virginia has made remarkable progress in expanding voting rights, but now that progress must be protected. There is nothing more fundamental to our democracy than exercising our right to vote and we should not inhibit, stifle, or suppress that right.
