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ELECTION & CAMPAIGN FINANCE
LAW
Passed legislation
HOUSE BILL 4
Elections; form of ballots; political party names on ballots.
Patron: Harry R. (Bob) Purkey
Summary: Provides for identification on the
ballot of the candidate by the name of the political party that
nominated the candidate in federal, statewide, and General Assembly
elections only. Independent candidates are to be identified by
the word "Independent." Present law prohibits party
identification on the ballot except in presidential elections.
The bill takes effect January 1, 2001. House Bill 585 has been
incorporated into this bill.
HOUSE BILL 71
Running for multiple offices; names on ballots.
Patron: Vincent F. Callahan, Jr.
Summary: Prohibits an individual from being
on the ballot for more than one office in any election unless
the law permits him to hold both offices and he intends to do
so. Code ß 2.1-37.01 now prohibits a person from holding
any two elected offices at the same time with limited exceptions
for certain shared offices and for a presidential elector who
holds elected office.
HOUSE BILL 93
Ballots and voting equipment.
Patron: Vincent F. Callahan, Jr.
Summary: Provides that, in precincts where
"mark sense" ballots (for example, ballots marked by
pencil and counted by a scanning device) are used, the mark sense
ballot may serve as the official paper ballot with State Board
approval.
HOUSE BILL 425
Elections; procedures at the polls; voter identification.
Patron: Jeannemarie Devolites
Summary: Adds a requirement that every voter
present a form of identification when he offers to vote at the
polls. The required identification may be any one of the following:
his Commonwealth of Virginia voter registration card, his social
security card, his valid Virginia driver's license, an identification
card issued by a local, state, or federal government agency,
or an identification card with a photograph of the voter issued
by his employer. If a voter cannot present identification, he
may still vote if he signs a statement, subject to felony penalties,
that he is the named registered voter he claims to be. Under
present law, a voter identification requirement applies only
to certain first-time voters who have registered by mail and
in certain challenged vote situations. The bill also deletes
a provision enacted in 1999 that provided for a pilot project
in up to 10 jurisdictions to test the voter identification process.
In October 1999, the Virginia Supreme Court upheld the injunction
issued by the Richmond City Circuit Court that prohibited implementation
of the pilot program at the November 1999 elections in 10 counties
and cities on the ground that all voters were not treated alike
under the pilot program. House Bill 586 has been incorporated
into this bill.
Note: HB 586 (failed), SB 1 (passed) and SB
139 (failed) are all substantively similar.
HOUSE BILL 622
City and town elections.
Patron: Anne G. (Panny) Rhodes
Summary: Allows cities and towns by ordinance
to provide for the election of the governing body at the November
general election rather than the May general election. Alternatively,
voters may petition the circuit court asking that a referendum
be held on the question of whether the city or town shall elect
the mayor and council at the November general election. Several
other sections are amended to eliminate the assumption that all
elections for city and town governing bodies or school boards
are held in May.
HOUSE BILL 693
Petition requirements for candidates and in presidential and
referenda elections.
Patron: Beverly J. Sherwood
Summary: Amends the requirements for circulating
petitions in response to federal case law developments. See Buckley
v. American Constitutional Law Foundation, Inc., U.S.S.C. No
97-930, January 12, 1999. Current law provides that the person
circulating the petition and witnessing signatures on the petition
must be a registered voter eligible to vote in the pertinent
election. The amendment allows a person who is not a registered
voter, but who is eligible to register to vote in the pertinent
election, to circulate the petition.
Note: This bill conforms Virginia law to the
requirements of a 1999 United States Supreme Court case.
HOUSE BILL 695
Campaign Finance Disclosure Act; final reports.
Patron: Beverly J. Sherwood
Summary: Provides for the closing of a campaign
after the death of a candidate and for the administrative closing
of dormant campaign and committee accounts.
HOUSE BILL 699
State Board of Elections; voter registration system and collection
of moneys.
Patron: Samuel A. Nixon, Jr.
Summary: Authorizes the Board to provide for
the production, distribution and receipt of information and lists
through the Virginia Voter Registration System (VVRS) by any
appropriate means including, but not limited to, paper and electronic
means. This is a recommendation of the VVRS study committee and
will allow for the current and envisioned VVRS processes, as
well as for those that may be developed in the future. The State
Board is also authorized to accept credit or debit cards in payment
for lists, copies, fees, and fines.
HOUSE BILL 720
Campaign Finance Disclosure Act.
Patron: M. Kirkland Cox
Summary: Provides that a candidate for the
General Assembly who files campaign finance disclosure reports
with the State Board of Elections by computer or electronic means
will be relieved of the requirement to file copies of the reports
with the local electoral board of the county or city where he
resides. Candidates filing paper reports with the State Board
will continue to file locally. The bill authorizes local electoral
boards to accept computer or electronic reports from candidates
for local office and requires the posting of those reports on
the Internet. The secretaries of local electoral boards are given
authority to assess fines against local candidates for late or
incomplete filings. The penalty provision is revised to make
it clear that the grace periods available for amending incomplete
reports do not apply to the failure to file timely reports.
HOUSE BILL 782
Voter services at DMV offices.
Patron: S. Chris Jones
Summary: Allows the office of a general registrar
to be located in a DMV facility. The bill also moves the provision
authorizing multijurisdictional staffing for voter registration
offices in DMV facilities from the voter list section of the
election laws to a more appropriate location under the duties
and powers of the general registrar.
HOUSE BILL 899
Campaign Finance Disclosure Act; reporting requirements and deadlines.
Patron: William K. Barlow
Summary: Grants a 72-hour extension of the
reporting deadline in case of the death of a filer's close relative
within the 72 hours prior to the deadline. This bill also authorizes
the State Board of Elections or local electoral board to grant
an extension up to five days in emergency situations.
HOUSE BILL 977
Election laws; absentee ballot procedures.
Patron: Marian Van Landingham
Summary: Changes wording on the envelope used
to return voted absentee ballots from "an actual resident"
to "a legal resident." The change conforms the language
on the return envelope to the language presently used on the
absentee ballot application and reduces possible confusion for
voters who are temporarily residing overseas and entitled to
vote absentee. House Bill 721 has been incorporated into this
bill.
HOUSE BILL 1069
Campaign Finance Disclosure Act; campaign depositories.
Patron: Robert G. Marshall
Summary: Allows the campaign committee treasurer
to transfer funds from the designated depository for the committee
to another account or instrument to earn interest. The bill requires
complete records of the transfers and continues to require that
all campaign expenses be paid through the designated depository
account.
HOUSE BILL 1080
Restoration of civil rights to convicted felons.
Patron: Jerrauld C. Jones
Summary: Requires the Director of the Department
of Corrections to provide for notice to certain felons (certain
violent, drug and voting felonies are excluded), at the time
of completing service of sentence, probation, and parole, of
their loss of civil rights and the process for restoring civil
rights. The bill also directs the Secretary of the Commonwealth
to advise applicants for restoration of civil rights of the fact
that their application is complete and the date of its transmittal
to the Governor. The bill provides procedures for petitioning
the circuit court, criteria for approval by the court and approval
of the court order by the Governor.
HOUSE BILL 1092
Campaign finance disclosure; statements of organization filed
by political committees.
Patron: Harry R. (Bob) Purkey
Summary: Requires, with certain exceptions,
that a political committee provide in its statement of organization
(i) an address in the Commonwealth for the committee, (ii) a
residence address in the Commonwealth for the custodian, if any,
of the committee's books and accounts and for at least one principal
officer (the treasurer or chief executive officer) of the committee,
and (iii) the name of the financial institution in the Commonwealth
that will serve as the committee's designated sole depository.
Present law requirements remain in effect for any national political
party committee and any political committee established or controlled
by a corporation doing business in Virginia and allow the listing
of out-of-state addresses and depositories.
HOUSE BILL 1136
Campaign Finance Disclosure Act; definitions; reports of contributions
and expenditures; and filing deadlines.
Patron: S. Chris Jones
Summary: Changes the time period for filing
pre-election, large contribution reports from 72 hours after
receipt to the end of the next business day after receipt. The
State Board will issue instructions to provide for timely delivery
of disclosure reports. The bill further provides for more complete
reporting of in-kind contributions and expenditures as well as
cash contributions.
HOUSE BILL 1141
Political campaign telephone calls; disclosure requirements;
penalties.
Patron: S. Chris Jones
Summary: Requires persons who make campaign
telephone calls for compensation to state information to identify
the candidate, campaign committee, or other committee or person
who authorized the call. The requirement applies to any series
of 25 or more calls made to convey or solicit information pertaining
to elections to office and the candidates and political parties
participating in the elections. A violator is subject to a civil
penalty up to $2,500.
HOUSE BILL 1152
Campaign advertisements; identification requirements.
Patron: Leo C. Wardrup, Jr.
Summary: Specifies that the requirement for
printing an authorization statement on campaign materials does
not apply to a billboard or sign larger than six square feet
in area, that has been authorized by the candidate and states
only basic facts, i.e., the candidate's name and his political
party, the elected office held, the elected office sought, and
the election date. The bill also requires authorization statements
on electronically transmitted campaign advertisements.
HOUSE BILL 1459
Elections; activities at polling places; election pages.
Patron: Thomas M. Bolvin
Summary: Authorizes the local electoral board
in any county or city to conduct special programs in one or more
polling places for high school students to serve as election
pages, learn about the election process, and assist the officers
of election and voters. Pages will serve under the supervision
of the chief officer of election for the polling place.
HOUSE BIL 1486
Congressional, state legislative, and local election districts
and precincts; redistricting and precinct changes; and use of
United States Census population counts.
Patron: Jeannemarie Devolites
Summary: Provides that the General Assembly
and local governing bodies shall use the census population data
provided by the United States Bureau of the Census that has been
used to apportion the seats in the United States House of Representatives
among the states. The apportionment counts are actual enumeration
counts in contrast to population counts that are statistically
modified to offset undercounted and overcounted population segments.
The Bureau of the Census plans to release both sets of data at
this time. The bill provides further that the present freeze
on changes in precinct boundaries will end May 15, rather than
June 1, 2001. The freeze is a feature of the Commonwealth's participation
in the United States Bureau of the Census program to provide
2000 census population data by defined election precincts. The
bill also states explicitly that precinct changes may be adopted
by ordinance and submitted for clearance under Section 5 of the
federal Voting Rights Act before May 15, 2001, but precinct changes
may not be implemented in elections prior to that date.
Note: The effect of this bill is to eliminate,
from redistricting calculations, estimates of undercounted populations
utilized by the Census Bureau to provide its final numbers for
congressional seat apportionment among the states. A legal challenge
is forthcoming.
HOUSE BILL 1518
Procedures in election recounts.
Patron: Anne G. (Panny) Rhodes
Summary: Allows the petitioner and parties,
as part of the preliminary hearing in a recount, to examine the
absentee ballots when the number of absentee ballots cast is
sufficient to change the outcome of the election. The examination
takes place under supervision of the electoral board and security
measures approved by the chief judge of the circuit court overseeing
the hearing.
HOUSE BILL 1536
Primary schedule in 2001.
Patron: M. Kirkland Cox
Summary: Authorizes the State Board of Elections
to reschedule the June 12, 2001, primary, and revise related
schedules, if redistricting has not been completed and pre-clearance
from the appropriate United States authority under ß 5
of the Voting Rights Act has not been received in time to hold
the primary at the regularly scheduled time. The Board may reschedule
the primary to any Tuesday not later than September 11, 2001.
The bill applies to elections for House of Delegates, constitutional
officers, county governing bodies, and county school boards.
HOUSE BILL 1537
Special elections; vacancies in constitutional offices.
Patron: M. Kirkland Cox
Summary: Requires an immediate special election
to fill a vacancy in a constitutional office and eliminates the
appointment of an interim constitutional officer by the judges
of the circuit court of the county or city except in unusual
circumstances. The constitutional offices are the clerk of the
circuit court, attorney for the Commonwealth, sheriff, commissioner
of the revenue, and treasurer. This bill takes effect October
1, 2000.
Note: VALECO opposed this legislation in its
original form, and once passage appeared imminent, help to redraft
the legislation to make it more workable. See also SB 688, which
is identical.
HOUSE BILL 1541
School board policies regarding certain activities.
Patron: James K. (Jay) O'Brien, Jr.
Summary: Requires, no later than January 1,
2001, local school boards to develop and implement policies to
ensure that public school students are not required to convey
or deliver any materials that (i) advocate the election or defeat
of any candidate for elective office, (ii) advocate the passage
or defeat of any referendum question, or (iii) advocate the passage
or defeat of any matter pending before a local school board,
local governing body or the General Assembly of Virginia or the
Congress of the United States. This provision must not be construed
to prohibit the discussion or use of political or issue-oriented
materials as part of classroom discussions or projects or to
prohibit the delivery of informational materials. The Board of
Education is to monitor and report on the implementation of this
requirement to the co-chairman of the House Committee on Education
and the chairman of the Senate Committee on Education and Health
by the beginning of the 2001 Session of the General Assembly.
SENATE BILL 1
Elections; procedures at the polls; voter identification.
Patron: Kevin G. Miller
Summary: See HB 425 (passed), HB 586 (failed)
and SB 139 (failed), which are substantively similar.
SENATE BILL 204
Presidential primaries; officers of election.
Patron: Kevin G. Miller
Summary: Provides that any officer of election
serving at the February primary shall complete his duties in
connection with the primary whether or not he has been appointed
to a new term beginning March 1. Emergency.
SENATE BILL 205
Election procedures; pollbooks and registered voter lists.
Patron: Kevin G. Miller
Summary: Extends from January 1, 2000, to
July 1, 2001, the time for the State Board of Elections to conduct
a pilot project to test the use at elections of one combined
pollbook and list. The bill provides for reports on the results
of the project from the Board to the Privileges and Elections
Committees at both the 2000 and 2001 regular sessions. Emergency.
SENATE BILL 243
Campaign finance disclosure; statements of organization filed
by political committees.
Patron: William T. Bolling
Summary: Requires, with certain exceptions,
that a political committee provide in its statement of organization
(i) an address in the Commonwealth for the committee, (ii) a
residence address in the Commonwealth for the custodian, if any,
of the committee's books and accounts and for at least one principal
officer (the treasurer or chief executive officer) of the committee,
and (iii) the name of the financial institution in the Commonwealth
that will serve as the committee's designated sole depository.
Present law requirements remain in effect for any national political
party committee and any political committee established or controlled
by a corporation doing business in Virginia and allow the listing
of out-of-state addresses and depositories.
SENATE BILL 315
Election laws; absentee voting.
Patron: W. Roscoe Reynolds
Summary: Permits a person to vote absentee
if he will be at his work place for 11 or more hours during the
13 hours that the polls are open on election day.
SENATE BILL 319
Presidential primaries.
Patron: W. Roscoe Reynolds
Summary: Provides that the Commonwealth, rather
than the counties and cities, shall pay the costs of presidential
primaries as provided in the appropriations act. Emergency.
SENATE BILL 382
Presidential primaries; age qualification to participate.
Patron: John C. Watkins
Summary: Provides that any 17-year-old who
will be 18 by the following November general election shall be
eligible to register in advance of and vote at the February presidential
primary election.
SENATE BILL 392
State Board of Elections; voter registration system and collection
of moneys.
Patron: Stephen H. Martin
Summary: Authorizes the Board to provide for
the production, distribution and receipt of information and lists
through the Virginia Voter Registration System (VVRS) by any
appropriate means including, but not limited to, paper and electronic
means. This is a recommendation of the VVRS study committee and
will allow for the current and envisioned VVRS processes, as
well as for those that may be developed in the future. The State
Board is also authorized to accept credit or debit cards in payment
for lists, copies, fees, and fines.
SENATE BILL 417
Campaign Finance Disclosure Act.
Patron: Kevin G. Miller
Summary: Provides that a candidate for the
General Assembly who files campaign finance disclosure reports
with the State Board of Elections by computer or electronic means
will be relieved of the requirement to file copies of the reports
with the local electoral board of the county or city where he
resides. Candidates filing paper reports with the State Board
will continue to file locally. The bill authorizes local electoral
boards to accept computer or electronic reports from candidates
for local office and requires the posting of those reports on
the Internet. The secretaries of local electoral boards are given
authority to assess fines against local candidates for late or
incomplete filings. The penalty provision is revised to make
it clear that the grace periods available for amending incomplete
reports do not apply to the failure to file timely reports.
SENATE BILL 418
Petition requirements for candidates and in presidential and
referenda elections.
Patron: Kevin G. Miller
Summary: See HB 693, above, which is identical.
SENATE BILL 419
Voter services at DMV offices.
Patron: Kevin G. Miller
Summary: Allows the office of a general registrar
to be located in a DMV facility. The bill also moves the provision
authorizing multijurisdictional staffing for voter registration
offices in DMV facilities from the voter list section of the
election laws to a more appropriate location under the duties
and powers of the general registrar.
SENATE BILL 420
Voter registration; transfers and cancellations.
Patron: Kevin G. Miller
Summary: Allows a voter who has moved between
jurisdictions in the Commonwealth to transfer his registration
without having to provide all the information originally required
for registration. The registrar where the voter formerly resided
is required to forward the original application for registration
to the registrar for the voter's new locality. The time limit
for a voter to cancel his registration is revised to coincide
with the closing of the books prior to an election. Also, the
State Board of Elections is given the authority to send notices
requesting the confirmation of voters' addresses when they appear
to have moved, and to receive the responses to such notices.
SENATE BILL 429
Elections; voting machines and equipment.
Patron: Mary Margaret Whipple
Summary: Allows a county or city, subject
to the approval of the State Board of Elections, to use different
voting machines or equipment within the same precinct. Present
law requires the use of one system within each precinct. The
change will allow, for example, the use of one special voting
device or machine in a precinct for visually or physically handicapped
voters.
SENATE BILL 430
Elections; activities at polling places; election pages.
Patron: Mary Margaret Whipple
Summary: See HB 1459, above, which is identical.
SENATE BILL 432
Running for multiple offices; names on ballots.
Patron: Mary Margaret Whipple
Summary: See HB 71, above, which is identical.
SENATE BILL 485
Ballots and voting equipment.
Patron: Kevin G. Miller
Summary: Provides that in precincts where
"mark sense" ballots (for example, ballots marked by
pencil and counted by a scanning device) are used, the mark sense
ballot may serve as the official paper ballot with State Board
approval. The bill carries provisions for the securing of ballots
and the later counting of the ballots when a counting device
becomes inoperative during an election.
SENATE BILL 646
Information on proposed constitutional amendments.
Patron: Mary Margaret Whipple
Summary: Modifies the present law requirement
for the preparation and distribution of a brief, neutral explanation
of each proposed constitutional amendment approved by the General
Assembly and submitted to the voters for approval or rejection.
The changes include a requirement to post the explanation on
the State Board of Elections website on the Internet, authorization
for a brief statement on the effect of a "yes" or "no"
vote and summary of pro and con arguments, and a deadline for
approval of the explanation.
SENATE BILL 688
Special elections; vacancies in constitutional offices.
Patron: Edward L. Schrock
Summary: See HB 1537, above, which is identical.
SENATE BILL 730
Absentee ballot applications.
Patron: Stephen H. Martin
Summary: Provides that certain absentee ballot
applications from members of the uniformed services or merchant
marines or persons regularly employed overseas, and their accompanying
spouses or dependents, may be accepted more than 10 months before
an election.
SENATE BILL 755
Political activities of firefighters, emergency medical technicians
and law-enforcement officers.
Patron: Martin E. Williams
Summary: Provides that no locality shall prohibit
firefighters, emergency medical technicians or law-enforcement
officers from participating in political activities while these
employees are off duty, out of uniform and not on the premises
of their employment with the locality.
SENATE BILL 773
Primary schedule in 2001.
Patron: Kevin G. Miller
Summary: See HB 1536, above, which is identical.
Further Information
Alan Albert: 757/624-3055 (Norfolk), 804/697-1368 (Richmond)
E-mail: aalbert@maysval.com
Anne Leigh Kerr: 804/697-1465
E-mail: alkerr@maysval.com
(c) 2000 Virginia Association of Local Elected Constitutional
Officers.
This report may not be reproduced in whole or in part without
the written permission of the copyright holder.
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