---
type: "Bill"
title: "Voting systems; voter-verifiable paper record."
description: "Voting systems; voter-verifiable paper record. Requires any electronic voting system approved by the State Board of Elections to retain each printed ballot cast. Printed ballots are currently defined to include machine-readable ballots, and the bill amends the definition of a machine-readable ballot to mean a tangible ballot that is marked by a voter or by a system or device operated by voter, is available for verification by the voter at the time the ballot is cast, and is then fed into and scanned by a separate counting machine. The bill amends the requirements for sealing and delivering ballots after an election to include printed ballots; current law only addresses paper ballots."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 1053"
citation: "Virginia HB 1053 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Mark H. Levine"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 29
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-01-07"
last_action: "2020-03-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/880791e1-c5a3-4942-8e7e-cfbac1e831e0"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB1053"
source_hash: "a3f686ea46fac4c538d21ac481a326d3536e6bf39c073c5d489006b830d3afa5"
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 1053 (2020) — Voting systems; voter-verifiable paper record.

Voting systems; voter-verifiable paper record. Requires any electronic voting system approved by the State Board of Elections to retain each printed ballot cast. Printed ballots are currently defined to include machine-readable ballots, and the bill amends the definition of a machine-readable ballot to mean a tangible ballot that is marked by a voter or by a system or device operated by voter, is available for verification by the voter at the time the ballot is cast, and is then fed into and scanned by a separate counting machine. The bill amends the requirements for sealing and delivering ballots after an election to include printed ballots; current law only addresses paper ballots.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0294)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0294)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1053ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1053ER)
3. **Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB1053H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1053H1)
4. **Impact statement from DPB (HB1053)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1053)

## Votes

- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Privileges and Elections with substitute (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Privileges and Elections (13-Y 0-N) — **13–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 0-N) — **6–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Mark H. Levine — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20104039D `introduction`
- **2020-01-07** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-13** Assigned P & E sub: Gubernatorial Appointments `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-22** Impact statement from DPB (HB1053)
- **2020-01-30** Impact statement from DHCD/CLG (HB1053)
- **2020-02-05** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-02-05** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-07** Reported from Privileges and Elections with substitute (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-07** Committee substitute printed 20107096D-H1 `substitution`
- **2020-02-09** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-10** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-10** Committee substitute agreed to 20107096D-H1
- **2020-02-10** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB1053H1
- **2020-02-11** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-11** Impact statement from DPB (HB1053H1)
- **2020-02-11** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-12** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-12** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-18** Reported from Privileges and Elections (13-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-20** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-21** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-21** Passed Senate (38-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-26** Enrolled
- **2020-02-26** Impact statement from DPB (HB1053ER)
- **2020-02-27** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-02-27** Signed by President
- **2020-03-05** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 5, 2020
- **2020-03-05** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 12, 2020
- **2020-03-11** Approved by Governor-Chapter 294 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/880791e1-c5a3-4942-8e7e-cfbac1e831e0`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).