---
type: "Bill"
title: "Local elections for governing bodies; elections for school boards, qualification of voters."
description: "Local elections for governing bodies; qualificationof voters. Clarifies that, notwithstanding any other provisionof law, general or special, in a locality that elects its governingbody at large from the locality, any qualified voter of the localityshall be entitled to vote for the at-large candidates, and in a localitythat elects its governing body from districts or wards, only thequalified voters of a district or ward shall be entitled to votefor the candidates of that district or ward. In a locality that electsits governing body from any combination of at-large and districtsor wards, any qualified voter of the locality shall be entitled tovote for the at-large candidates and only the qualified voters ofa district or ward shall be entitled to vote for the candidates ofthat district or ward."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 2198"
citation: "Virginia HB 2198 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 43
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2021-01-13"
last_action: "2021-03-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/67f89802-0192-4f24-bc47-8c161f6751e1"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+HB2198"
source_hash: "7a18609c3e1b60756e6fd679f075498c418172b2dde4472b65aa90fbe5967035"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia HB 2198 (2021) — Local elections for governing bodies; elections for school boards, qualification of voters.

Local elections for governing bodies; qualificationof voters. Clarifies that, notwithstanding any other provisionof law, general or special, in a locality that elects its governingbody at large from the locality, any qualified voter of the localityshall be entitled to vote for the at-large candidates, and in a localitythat elects its governing body from districts or wards, only thequalified voters of a district or ward shall be entitled to votefor the candidates of that district or ward. In a locality that electsits governing body from any combination of at-large and districtsor wards, any qualified voter of the locality shall be entitled tovote for the at-large candidates and only the qualified voters ofa district or ward shall be entitled to vote for the candidates ofthat district or ward.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **CHAP0225** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0225)
2. **HB2198ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB2198ER)
3. **HB2198H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB2198H1)
4. **HB2198S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB2198S1)
5. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21102650D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB2198)

## Votes

- Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Privileges and Elections (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Privileges and Elections (8-Y 6-N 1-A) — **8–6** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (7-Y 0-N) — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate (21-Y 18-N) — **21–18** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Privileges and Elections with substitute (14-Y 8-N) — **14–8** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Passage (55-Y 45-N) — **54–45** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Substitute by Senator DeSteph rejected 21200645D-S1 (18-Y 20-N) — **18–20** (fail) · upper

## Sponsors

- Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler — primary (person)
- Alex Q. Askew — cosponsor (person)
- Kaye Kory — cosponsor (person)
- Marcia S. "Cia" Price — cosponsor (person)
- Mark H. Levine — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-01-13** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21102650D `introduction`
- **2021-01-13** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-14** Assigned P & E sub: Voting Rights `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-20** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-01-20** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (7-Y 0-N)
- **2021-01-25** Impact statement from DPB (HB2198)
- **2021-01-27** Reported from Privileges and Elections with substitute (14-Y 8-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-27** Committee substitute printed 21103129D-H1 `substitution`
- **2021-01-27** Substitute bill reprinted 21103129D-H1
- **2021-01-28** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-01-29** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-01-29** Committee substitute agreed to 21103129D-H1
- **2021-01-29** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB2198H1
- **2021-02-01** Read third time and passed House (55-Y 45-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-01** VOTE: Passage (55-Y 45-N)
- **2021-02-02** Impact statement from DPB (HB2198H1)
- **2021-02-02** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2021-02-02** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-05** Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Privileges and Elections (15-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-16** Reported from Privileges and Elections (8-Y 6-N 1-A) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-18** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-19** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-19** Passed by for the day
- **2021-02-22** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-22** Passed by for the day
- **2021-02-23** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-23** Passed by temporarily
- **2021-02-23** Passed by for the day
- **2021-02-24** Passed by temporarily
- **2021-02-24** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-02-24** Floor substitute printed 21200645D-S1 (DeSteph)
- **2021-02-24** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-24** Reading of substitute waived
- **2021-02-24** Substitute by Senator DeSteph rejected 21200645D-S1 (18-Y 20-N)
- **2021-02-24** Passed Senate (21-Y 18-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-25** Impact statement from DPB (HB2198S1)
- **2021-02-26** Enrolled
- **2021-02-26** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-02-27** Signed by President
- **2021-03-01** Impact statement from DPB (HB2198ER)
- **2021-03-01** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 1, 20201
- **2021-03-01** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-03-18** Approved by Governor-Chapter 225 (effective 1/1/22) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/67f89802-0192-4f24-bc47-8c161f6751e1`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).