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ELECTION & CAMPAIGN FINANCE
LAW
Failed legislation
HOUSE BILL 503
Presidential primaries; officers of election.
Patron: Lacey E. Putney
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.
HOUSE BILL 525
Election procedures; pollbooks and registered voter lists.
Patron: M. Kirkland Cox
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.
HOUSE BILL 546
Local governing bodies; prohibited campaign contributions.
Patron: Robert G. Marshall
Summary: Prohibits any member of a local governing
body, or his campaign committee, from accepting a campaign contribution
from any person who is an applicant or party in a matter or application
pending before the governing body for a special exception to
a zoning regulation, a special use permit, or the subdivision
of property, with certain limits and exceptions. Penalties for
violations of the prohibitions are also set forth.
HOUSE BILL 585
Elections; form of ballots; political party names on ballots.
Patron: Richard H. Black
Summary: Provides for identification on the
ballot of the candidate by the name of the political party that
nominated the candidate. 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.
Note: See HB 4, a substantively similar bill
that passed.
HOUSE BILL 586
Elections; procedures at the polls; voter identification.
Patron: Richard H. Black
Summary: Adds a requirement that every voter
present a form of identification when he offers to vote at the
polls. This bill has been incorporated into House Bill 425.
Note: See HB 425 and SB 1, substantively similar
bills that passed, and SB 139, a substantively similar bill that
failed.
HOUSE BILL 682
Absentee voting.
Patron: Allen L. Louderback
Summary: Provides that employees of and volunteers
for the offices of local electoral boards, registrars, and the
State Board of Elections, who have office duties on election
day, may vote by absentee ballot. The bill also creates, for
certain military and overseas voters who file one application
for all elections in a calendar year, an exception to the rule
that absentee ballot applications will not be accepted more than
10 months before an election.
HOUSE BILL 694
Voter registration; transfers and cancellations.
Patron: Beverly J. Sherwood
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.
HOUSE BILL 721
Election laws; absentee ballot procedures.
Patron: M. Kirkland Cox
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 788
Campaign Finance Disclosure Act; exemption from reporting requirements
for certain local office candidates.
Patron: R. Creigh Deeds
Summary: Provides that a candidate for local
office may seek an exemption from the requirements to file periodic
reports of contributions and expenditures. To qualify for the
exemption, the local candidate must certify that he will not
solicit or accept campaign contributions, that he will not contribute
personally more than, or expend more than, $1,000 in his campaign,
and that he will keep appropriate records for his campaign.
HOUSE BILL 807
Elections; form of ballots; political party names on ballots.
Patron: Robert G. Marshall
Summary: Provides for identification on ballots
of party candidates by the name of their political parties and
of other candidates by the use of the term "Independent"
or another designation as provided by the candidates. Present
law prohibits party identification on the ballot except in presidential
elections. The bill takes effect January 1, 2001.
HOUSE BILL 1139
State Board of Elections; authority to provide for enforcement
of election laws and investigations of violations.
Patron: S. Chris Jones
Summary: Provides for concurrent jurisdiction
for the State Board, as well as the Attorney General, to conduct
investigations of election law violations.
HOUSE BILL 1298
Local electoral boards; appointments.
Patron: Beverly J. Sherwood
Summary: Provides that the county or city
political party committees of the two major political parties,
rather than the circuit court judges, will appoint the members
of the local electoral board and fill vacancies on the board.
The House approved a floor substitute restoring the appointment
power to the circuit court judges with some revisions to the
present law and then defeated the bill.
HOUSE BILL 1433
Primary elections; voter registration by political party; closed
primaries.
Patron: James K. (Jay) O'Brien, Jr.
Summary: Adds party affiliation to the information
that an applicant is asked to provide when registering to vote
beginning January 1, 2001. The applicant may indicate that he
is an independent. Voters registered prior to January 1, 2001,
will be designated as independent unless they provide a political
party designation to the general registrar. Voters may change
their party affiliation or independent status by written notice
at any time except the 28 days before an election when the registration
records are closed. Only voters who have registered as being
affiliated with the political party conducting the primary shall
be eligible to participate in that primary.
SENATE BILL 104
Elections; procedures at the polls; voter identification project.
Patron: Yvonne B. Miller
Summary: Deletes the subsection, enacted in
1999, that provided for a pilot project in up to 10 jurisdictions
to test a voter identification requirement. 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 the selected
counties and cities.
SENATE BILL 139
Elections; procedures at the polls; voter identification.
Patron: Stephen H. Martin
Summary: See HB 425 and SB 1, substantively
similar bills that passed, and HB 586, a substantively similar
bill that failed.
SENATE BILL 140
Elections; form of ballots; political party names on ballots.
Patron: Stephen H. Martin
Summary: Provides for identification on the
ballot of the candidate by the name of the political party that
nominated the candidate. 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.
SENATE BILL 210
Elections; constitutional officers; candidacy requirement.
Patron: Warren E. Barry
Summary: Requires nonpartisan nomination for
candidates for constitutional offices (sheriff, attorney for
the Commonwealth, treasurer, commissioner of the revenue, and
clerk of the circuit court) by petition as provided by law for
independent candidates.
Note: VALECO strenuously opposed this bill,
which would have eliminated party nominations for constitutional
offices.
SENATE BILL 229
Presidential primaries.
Patron: H. Russell Potts, Jr.
Summary: Prohibits the use of a pledge or
loyalty oath to support the political party's candidates as a
qualification for voter participation in the presidential primary.
The present law authorizes the requirement of a pledge by the
party conducting the primary subject to approval by the State
Board of Elections. Other primaries in Virginia are open to all
qualified voters.
SENATE BILL 254
Restoration of voting rights to former felons.
Patron: Henry L. Marsh III
Summary: Adds a procedure for the restoration
of the rights to register to vote and to vote to any person convicted
of a nonviolent felony in Virginia, upon completion of sentence,
probation, and parole. Completion of sentence, probation, and
parole may be evidenced by the instrument discharging the person
from prison or supervision. A copy of the discharge instrument
shall be filed with the clerk of the court which imposed the
sentence. Presently, a person who has been convicted of any felony
in Virginia applies to the Governor for restoration of his civil
rights. The bill does not preclude any application to the Governor
for restoration of civil rights. The bill contains findings by
the General Assembly that address the constitutional questions
raised by the legislation.
SENATE BILL 468
Political activities of firefighters, emergency medical technicians
and law-enforcement officers.
Patron: Leslie L. Byrne
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 516
Campaign Finance Reform Act.
Patron: Phillip P. Puckett
Summary: Imposes limits on contributions to
candidates for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General
and the General Assembly. The limit on contributions by individuals
and other persons to a candidate is $2,000 per election cycle;
on contributions by political action committees (PACs), $4,000;
and on political party committees, $10,000. There are no limits
on contributions by a candidate to his own campaign. Civil penalties
for violations of the limits may equal up to two times the excess
contribution amounts.
SENATE BILL 570
Campaign Finance Disclosure Act; reporting and investigating
violations.
Patron: D. Nick Rerras
Summary: Authorizes the State Board of Elections
to conduct its own investigation or audit when there is a possible
violation of the Act or the provisions banning campaign fund
raising during legislative sessions.
SENATE BILL 647
Absentee voting procedures.
Patron: Mary Margaret Whipple
Summary: Provides that in-person absentee
voting may take place in a public building owned or leased by
the Commonwealth or an agency of the Commonwealth as well as
in public buildings owned or leased by the locality. This change
will allow, for example, in-person absentee voting at a Division
of Motor Vehicles center and is a recommendation of the SJR 423
election laws study.
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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