---
type: "Bill"
title: "Absentee voting; witness signature not required."
description: "Absentee voting; witness signature not required. Repeals the requirement that an absentee ballot be opened in thepresence of a witness and signed by such witness."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 1097"
citation: "Virginia SB 1097 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Barbara A. Favola"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 34
vote_count: 10
first_action: "2020-11-09"
last_action: "2021-03-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/eee3da6c-7848-4158-bc54-0506d4e6541b"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+SB1097"
source_hash: "813a8ad6ac7cba958bd9ffbd904565d3e1efa615b57ef373b58c50b33fdb485b"
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 SB 1097 (2021) — Absentee voting; witness signature not required.

Absentee voting; witness signature not required. Repeals the requirement that an absentee ballot be opened in thepresence of a witness and signed by such witness.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0235** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0235)
2. **Committee substitute printed 21200289D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1097H1)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21100137D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1097)
4. **SB1097ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1097ER)

## Votes

- Reconsideration of House substitute agreed to by Senate (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Privileges and Elections (9-Y 6-N) — **9–6** (pass) · upper
- Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 18-N) — **21–18** (pass) · upper
- Continued to Special Session 1 in Privileges and Elections — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- House substitute agreed to by Senate (22-Y 17-N) — **22–17** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- House substitute agreed to by Senate (22-Y 17-N) — **22–17** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (5-Y 3-N) — **5–3** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Passage (55-Y 45-N) — **54–45** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Privileges and Elections with substitute (13-Y 9-N) — **13–9** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Barbara A. Favola — primary (person)
- Jennifer L. McClellan — cosponsor (person)
- Kaye Kory — cosponsor (person)
- Patrick A. Hope — cosponsor (person)
- Rodney T. Willett — cosponsor (person)
- Scott A. Surovell — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-11-09** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21100137D `introduction`
- **2020-11-09** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-15** Impact statement from DPB (SB1097)
- **2021-01-19** Reported from Privileges and Elections (9-Y 6-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-21** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2021-01-22** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-01-25** Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 18-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-02** Placed on Calendar
- **2021-02-02** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-02-02** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-08** Continued to Special Session 1 in Privileges and Elections
- **2021-02-10** Assigned P & E sub: Election Administration `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-16** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-02-16** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (5-Y 3-N)
- **2021-02-17** Reported from Privileges and Elections with substitute (13-Y 9-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-17** Committee substitute printed 21200289D-H1 `substitution`
- **2021-02-19** Impact statement from DPB (SB1097H1)
- **2021-02-19** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-02-22** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-22** Committee substitute agreed to 21200289D-H1
- **2021-02-22** Engrossed by House - committee substitute SB1097H1
- **2021-02-22** Passed House with substitute (55-Y 45-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-22** VOTE: Passage (55-Y 45-N)
- **2021-02-23** House substitute agreed to by Senate (22-Y 17-N)
- **2021-02-23** Reconsideration of House substitute agreed to by Senate (39-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-23** House substitute agreed to by Senate (22-Y 17-N)
- **2021-02-23** Title replaced 21200289D-H1
- **2021-02-25** Enrolled
- **2021-02-25** Signed by President
- **2021-02-26** Impact statement from DPB (SB1097ER)
- **2021-02-26** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-03-01** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 1, 2021
- **2021-03-01** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-03-18** Approved by Governor-Chapter 235 (effective 7/1/21) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/eee3da6c-7848-4158-bc54-0506d4e6541b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).