---
type: "Bill"
title: "Elections administration; Department of Elections to employ a Director of Operations."
description: "Elections administration; Department of Elections; position of Director of Operations. Directs the Department of Elections to employ a Director of Operations, who will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operations at the Department and ensuring (i) fulfillment of the Department's mission and responsibilities; (ii) compliance with state and federal election laws and regulations; and (iii) compliance with the Department's business, administrative, and financial policies. The bill provides that the Director of Operations position is a full-time classified position subject to the Virginia Personnel Act. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 540"
citation: "Virginia HB 540 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Betsy B. Carr"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 45
vote_count: 13
first_action: "2020-01-05"
last_action: "2020-04-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e62747e7-4dd6-4a84-97f7-eccf6f57d6ce"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB540"
source_hash: "34fb1e17af96cdfabc472fe9d3570d180ce7b538082d4208be05a52e2bf5b429"
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 540 (2020) — Elections administration; Department of Elections to employ a Director of Operations.

Elections administration; Department of Elections; position of Director of Operations. Directs the Department of Elections to employ a Director of Operations, who will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operations at the Department and ensuring (i) fulfillment of the Department's mission and responsibilities; (ii) compliance with state and federal election laws and regulations; and (iii) compliance with the Department's business, administrative, and financial policies. The bill provides that the Director of Operations position is a full-time classified position subject to the Virginia Personnel Act. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP1087)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP1087)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB540ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB540ER)
3. **Impact statement from DPB (HB540)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB540)

## Votes

- Reported from Finance and Appropriations with amendment (16-Y 0-N) — **16–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: REJECTED (1-Y 99-N) — **1–98** (fail) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Privileges and Elections (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Privileges and Elections (14-Y 0-N) — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate with amendment (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Adoption (95-Y 0-N) — **94–0** (pass) · lower
- Senate insisted on amendment (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Appropriations (18-Y 0-N) — **18–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Conference report agreed to by Senate (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Betsy B. Carr — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-05** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20102246D `introduction`
- **2020-01-05** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-13** Assigned P & E sub: Constitutional Amendments `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-27** Impact statement from DPB (HB540)
- **2020-01-27** Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
- **2020-01-27** Subcommittee recommends referring to Committee on Appropriations
- **2020-01-31** Reported from Privileges and Elections (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-31** Referred to Committee on Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-31** Assigned App. sub: Compensation & General Government `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-03** Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-03** Reported from Appropriations (18-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-05** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-06** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-02-07** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-07** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-10** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-10** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-18** Reported from Privileges and Elections (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-18** Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-25** Reported from Finance and Appropriations with amendment (16-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-26** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-27** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-27** Reading of amendment waived
- **2020-02-27** Committee amendment agreed to
- **2020-02-27** Engrossed by Senate as amended
- **2020-02-27** Passed Senate with amendment (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-03-02** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-03-02** Senate amendment rejected by House (1-Y 99-N)
- **2020-03-02** VOTE: REJECTED (1-Y 99-N)
- **2020-03-03** Senate insisted on amendment (39-Y 0-N)
- **2020-03-03** Senate requested conference committee
- **2020-03-04** House acceded to request
- **2020-03-04** Conferees appointed by House
- **2020-03-05** Conferees appointed by Senate
- **2020-03-07** Amended by conference committee
- **2020-03-07** Conference report agreed to by House (95-Y 0-N)
- **2020-03-07** VOTE: Adoption (95-Y 0-N)
- **2020-03-08** Conference report agreed to by Senate (38-Y 0-N)
- **2020-03-18** Enrolled
- **2020-03-18** Signed by President
- **2020-03-19** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-20** Impact statement from DPB (HB540ER)
- **2020-03-20** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 20, 2020
- **2020-03-20** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-04-10** Approved by Governor-Chapter 1087 (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/e62747e7-4dd6-4a84-97f7-eccf6f57d6ce`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).