EPEC NEWS

From EPEC Team Newsletter:

Virginia’s General Assembly is considering remedies to Same Day Registration (SDR) chaos from the 2024 presidential election that allowed ineligible ballots to count.

At least two bills in circulation appear to be addressing the problem by providing more time for regular registration before Election Day.

Whether the bills address flaws in the SDR statute, which has been shown to allow ineligible individuals to register and cast ballots in the middle of an ongoing election, remains in question, and under debate.

EPEC Team is tracking them, as well as a bill that would bring more transparency to the cost of voter data in Virginia:

—HB1952: Public Posting of Voter-List Costs

Introduced by Del. H. Otto Wachsmann, Jr. (R-83), HB 1952 says the Department of Elections [ELECT] would be required to “publish on its website the cost of purchasing lists of registered voters and lists of persons voting at elections.”

Currently, ELECT lists the types of voter files it provides without listing the different prices for the datasets. Patrons generally email ELECT asking for the file, then receive an invoice with the price.

During a hearing on the bill in sub-committee this week, Del. Mark Sickles (D-17) asked Commissioner Susan Beals if she had a problem with a bill requiring transparency in posting the prices. “I have no problem with the bill,” she replied.

The P&E sub-committee recommended reporting out the bill unanimously.

Link to HB 1952: https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20251/HB1952

Status: In Committee

—Same Day Registration Bills

HB1863: Voter registration; time period for closing registration records before elections

Introduced by Del. Robert Bloxom (R-100) as a way to cut down on SDR provisional ballots to process after Election Day, HB 1863 provides that “registration records be closed during the five days before any election. Under current law registration records are [closed] during the 21 days before a primary or general election and, if the registration records have not been closed previously for a primary or general election, during the six days before a special election called by the Governor, Speaker of the House of Delegates, or President pro tempore of the Senate, or pursuant to rule or resolution of either house of the General Assembly and during the 13 days before any other special election.”

This version of SDR remedy appears to be gaining favor among committees.

Status: In Committee

Link to HB 1863: https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20251/HB1863

—SB991: Voter registration; time period for closing registration records before certain elections

Introduced by Sen. Angelia Williams Graves (D-21), SB 991 would reduce “from 21 to 10 days the number of days during which registration records are closed before primary and general elections and from 13 to 10 days the number of days during which registration records are closed before special elections that are not called by the Governor, Speaker of the House of Delegates, or President pro tempore of the Senate.”

Status: Passed for the day (committee not ready to act).

Link to SB 991: https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20251/SB991

Background on SDR:

By the end of Virginia’s 2024 election (early voting and election day), more than 123,000 individuals had cast a provisional ballot, the vast majority of which were Same Day Registrations, according to Dept. of Election records.

Maintenance records from the election show that hundreds of college students were allowed to vote using a non-residential address, contrary to Virginia statute; hundreds appear to have been counted in the rush to finish post-election reviews of SDR provisional ballots.

Others cast a ballot using an invalid address, then changed their address, adding to the difficulty for General Registrars to assign “voter credit.”

EPEC Team has concluded an anonymous survey of Electoral Board members and General Registrars asking about their SDR experiences in 2024. We are preparing to release the results in the near future.

Some comments from GRs and Electoral Board members who responded anonymously:

—SDR overwhelmed Officers of Election.

—Some precincts were impacted more than larger precincts.

—SDR should end on the Saturday before Election Day.

—SDR bogged down polling places.

—Election Officers are shying away from working the SDR process on Election Day.

—Voter ID cards are being returned with voters already having moved since casting an SDR ballot.

As one survey response noted:

“Something needs to be done about college students being able to complete an SDR on Election Day, then re-registering back home the next day before we can even process the SDR.”

Many who responded suggested increasing the time for regular registration as a possible remedy. Others were more blunt: Get rid of it.

More to follow.

EPEC Team is tracking the bills and debate over how to fix clear flaws to the voting process that were ushered in by SDR in the 2024 election. ##