---
type: "Bill"
title: "Absentee voting in person; available the second and third Sunday before all elections."
description: "Absentee voting in person; available the second and third Sunday before all elections. Requires absentee voting in person to be made available for a minimum of five hours between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on the second and third Sunday immediately preceding all elections."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 438"
citation: "Virginia SB 438 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Lamont Bagby"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 37
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2026-01-13"
last_action: "2026-04-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/da1091ea-fe6c-4d63-aab3-c247a7b4006c"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB438"
source_hash: "1acdef74fded46d974a75d0a16b0fd23811dce1461ad84fba89f57d4843834b5"
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 438 (2026) — Absentee voting in person; available the second and third Sunday before all elections.

Absentee voting in person; available the second and third Sunday before all elections. Requires absentee voting in person to be made available for a minimum of five hours between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on the second and third Sunday immediately preceding all elections.

## Version chain

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

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1090269.PDF)
2. **Delegate Price Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1193601.HTML)
3. **House Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194162.HTML)
4. **Privileges and Elections Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1187562.HTML)
5. **Privileges and Elections Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1098387.PDF)
6. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1202766.PDF)

## Votes

- Concur House Amendment R — **21–19** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- H VOTE: — **62–35** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Privileges and Elections with amendment(s) — **14–7** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Privileges and Elections with substitute — **8–6** (pass) · upper
- Passage R — **21–19** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Lamont Bagby — primary (person)
- Aaron R. Rouse — cosponsor (person)
- Angelia Williams Graves — cosponsor (person)
- Jennifer D. Carroll Foy — cosponsor (person)
- L. Louise Lucas — cosponsor (person)
- Lashrecse D. Aird — cosponsor (person)
- Mamie E. Locke — cosponsor (person)
- Michael J. Jones — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-13** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102373D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-13** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-27** Reported from Privileges and Elections with substitute (8-Y 6-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-01-27** Committee substitute printed 26106334D-S1 `substitution`
- **2026-01-29** Rules suspended
- **2026-01-29** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-01-29** Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
- **2026-01-29** Rules suspended
- **2026-01-29** Passed by for the day
- **2026-01-30** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-01-30** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-01-30** Privileges and Elections Substitute agreed to
- **2026-01-30** Engrossed by Senate (Voice Vote)
- **2026-01-30** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute `substitution`
- **2026-02-02** Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 19-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-05** Placed on Calendar
- **2026-02-05** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-05** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-27** Reported from Privileges and Elections with amendment(s) (14-Y 7-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-02** House committee offered
- **2026-03-03** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-03-04** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-04** Passed by temporarily
- **2026-03-04** Floor offered Delegate Price Amendment
- **2026-03-04** committee amendment rejected `amendment-failure`
- **2026-03-04** Delegate Price Floor amendment agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2026-03-04** Engrossed by House as amended
- **2026-03-04** Passed House with amendment (62-Y 35-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-03-06** House amendment agreed to by Senate (21-Y 19-N 0-A) `amendment-passage`
- **2026-03-12** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-12** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB438ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-12** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB438)
- **2026-03-12** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-12** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-14** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 14, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-14** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 945 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/da1091ea-fe6c-4d63-aab3-c247a7b4006c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).