Our View of the Legislature: Voting Rights

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As today is “Super Tuesday” and many Virginians are going to vote, this seems like a great day to update the status of state legislation affecting your right to vote.  If you encounter any access issues at your polling place today, please contact us at 1-800-552-3962 as soon as possible, so that we can try to resolve your issue while there is still time to vote.

Please keep in mind that the changes described below, even after signed by the Governor, do not take effect until July 1. 

Registration

HB 235 (Cole) and SB 219 (Marsden) are intended to remove obstacles to voter registration.  This is helpful to our constituents, because the registration process can sometimes be onerous for people with disabilities.  Using information at the Department of Motor Vehicles, the bills call for automatic voter registration at the address on the driver’s license or state ID card, unless the person affirmatively declines to register.  Both bills have been approved by their house of origin.  Both were then amended by the other side to “conform” to the version passed by that house.  The two bills have differences that will be resolved in a committee of conference with members from both the House and the Senate, later this week.  Additionally, because the bills will have a fiscal impact on the primary agency that issues identification cards, the Department of Motor Vehicles, neither bill can be effective unless funding is included in the budget.

Absentee Voting

HB 1 (Herring) and SB 111 (Howell) are the two bills that will allow someone to vote absentee, in person or by mail, without stating a reason.  Currently, people with disabilities may vote absentee but have to identify that they have a disability, sometimes in detail.  Lifting this requirement and making absentee voting available to all will ensure greater access to voting for individuals with disabilities and all voters.

Both bills have been approved by both houses, but have not yet been sent to the Governor.  Because there are fewer than 7 days left of the session, the Governor will now have 30 days to review the legislation.

Identification

HB 19 (Lindsay) and SB 65 (Locke) incorporate several proposed bills to remove the very strict requirements added to Virginia code in recent years, limiting the forms of identification that must be produced in order to vote.  The current identification requirements have a disproportionate impact on voters with disabilities and older voters who may not have a current driver’s license.  Both proposed bills remove the strict requirements and insert instead a long list of possible forms of identification, including utility bills or government issued checks.  If a voter does not possess any of those forms of identification, he or she may sign a sworn statement as to their identity and will then be granted the ability to vote.

The two bills have some minor differences, and neither side was willing to accept the other side’s version.  The differences will be worked out in a committee of conference with members of both houses, later this week.

The mission of the disAbility Law Center of Virginia is to advance independence, choice and self-determination; protect legal, human and civil rights; and eliminate abuse, neglect and discrimination of people with disabilities through zealous and uncompromising legal advocacy and representation.