Legislators representing Arlington are advancing matching bills to extend elections offices’ deadlines for receiving and counting absentee ballots.
HB 82 and SB 58, introduced by Del. Adele McClure (D-2) and State Sen. Barbara Favola (D-40), respectively, call for moving the deadline from noon to 5 p.m. on the third day after an election.
The bills also propose a 5 p.m. deadline for voters casting a provisional ballot to provide their proof of identification for their ballot to be counted. However, the bills would not change the deadline for voters to turn in absentee ballots or have them postmarked by Election Day.
Favola noted that the new 5 p.m. deadline wouldn’t impose any additional burdens on election officers or delay the counting of ballots. She told ARLnow that the bills respond to delays in the U.S. Postal Service’s mail delivery.
“According to USPS, the average piece of mail is delivered in 2.8 days. Given this timeframe, if absentee ballots are postmarked on election day (as is current law), they may not be delivered until after the 12:00 pm deadline,” Favola said.
In the recent special election to replace State Sen. Adam Ebbin, for instance, postal carriers delivered 30 mail-in ballots after the noon deadline.
The companion bills passed their respective chambers and advanced to the opposite chamber before the crossover deadline yesterday (Wednesday). If bills pass both chambers, a final version of the legislation would go to Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D).
In a House Election Administration Subcommittee meeting on Feb. 9, McClure said that absentee voting has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Aligning this deadline with normal business hours would make it more flexible for working voters to submit their ballots, and this bill would make no change to who can vote or how votes are being counted,” said McClure, who did not respond to a request for comment. “It would just simply update our procedures to reflect the modern voting realities including work schedules and delayed mail deliveries.”
The legislation received support from the League of Women Voters of Virginia, a nonpartisan group that encourages voters to be informed and participate in government.
“As we all know, the Postal Service is not quite as reliable as it has been in the past, particularly for deliveries in the morning hours,” Joan Porte, president of the League of Women Voters of Virginia, told the House Election Administration Subcommittee. “Adjusting this deadline for the receipt of ballots on the third day from noon to 5 p.m., usually on a Friday, will help ensure the voters’ ballots will be counted as intended by the law.”
Clara Belle Wheeler, a former state and county elections board member now with conservative think tank Virginia Institute for Public Policy, warned about delays with counting ballots.
“We have enough trouble keeping track of all the absentee ballots and getting them reported,” Wheeler said. “One-half more day is going to throw our work into the weekend and even following into the following Monday, making it impossible to get the results to the voters by adding this extra time.”
Other updates on election-related bills in the General Assembly:
Advanced Bills
- The approved HB 963 by Del. Cia Price (D-85) and its Senate companion bill set a Nov. 3 voter referendum on automatically restoring rights of people convicted of felonies after their sentences are served. If approved by voters, it would amend the Virginia constitution.
- A constitutional amendment by Del. Jackie Glass (D-93) to allow 16-year-olds to vote was carried over to 2027.
- Price’s HB 965, which passed the House 61-36, seeks to add Virginia to the interstate compact to have a national popular vote rather than electoral college votes for presidential elections. State Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-39)’s companion bill passed the Senate 21-19.
- HB 773 by Del. Virgil Thornton (D-86), which passed the House 62-35, would move the deadline for correcting errors or omissions on absentee ballots from noon on the third day after the election to the Monday after the election.
- Del. Dan Helmer’s HB 113, which passed the House 95-3, seeks a penalty for bribes to influence a person’s voter registration.
- SB 350 by state Sen. Danica Roem (D-30), which passed the Senate 23-17, would allow absentee ballot counting any time after noon on Election Day. Currently, ballots can only be officially counted after polls close.
- SB 438 by state Sen. Lamont Bagby (D14), which passed the Senate 21-19, would require in-person absentee voting from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on two Sundays before an election.
- HB 28 by Del. Rozia A. Henson, Jr., which passed the House 61-35, would require removals of voters from the voter registration rolls to be completed no later than 90 days before an election. It also seeks a process for voters to confirm citizenship before cancellation, increases the period before cancellation from 30 to 60 days after notification and the period before a citizenship-related cancellation from 14 to 28 days.
- HB 111 by Del. Amy Laufer (D-55), which passed the House 61-35, seeks to limit how a voter registration can be canceled. The bill says a general registrar cannot cancel a voter registration unless the voter requests it in writing or the registrar receives an official death certificate or data provided by the Department of Elections or another state agency. The legislation also seeks to reinstate a provision to not cancel voter registrations of certain active duty military, people temporarily residing outside the U.S. or their spouses or dependents.
- Del. Paul Krizek (D-16)’s HB 640, which passed the House 63-35, eliminates the processes for a person to challenge another voter’s right to vote on Election Day or for three people to challenge a person’s status to the general registrar. Those challenges could still be submitted in a locality’s circuit court.
- Price’s HB 968, which passed 65-33 in the House, would require ballot scanning machines to be used for all readable ballots unless scanning machines are inoperable.
- HB 168, which passed the House 75-24, seeks to require localities with populations of at least 400,000 to have district-based governing body members. The only exception would be the at-large chair.
Failed or Carried Over Bills
- HB 493 by Del. Patrick Hope (D-1) to allow voters with certain disabilities to cast absentee ballots over the internet was carried over to 2027.
- Helmer’s (D-10)’s HB 23 and a companion Senate bill to move primary dates in presidential election years to the date of the presidential primary — usually March — failed to advance.
- HB 1213 by Delores Oates (D-31) to allow voters without valid ID to sign a statement and provide a personal statement in lieu of ID failed in committee.
- SB 544 by Sen. Luther Cifers III (R-10) to require an ID with a photo to vote failed in committee.
- HB 51 by Del. Robert Bloxom (R-100) to remove the requirement that municipal elections happen during November general elections did not pass a House committee.
- HB 71 by Del. Atoosa Reaser (D-27) to give localities more flexibility on offering early voting locations was carried over to 2027.
