republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2019/hb-2178.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Virginia voter registration system; security plans & procedures, update of security standards, etc."
description: "Directs the State Board of Elections to promulgate regulations and standards necessary to ensure the security and integrity of the Virginia voter registration system and the supporting technologies utilized by the counties and cities to maintain and record registrant information. The local electoral boards are also required to develop and update annually written plans and procedures to ensure the security and integrity of the supporting technologies. The local electoral boards are further required to report annually to the Department of Elections on their security plans and procedures. The bill authorizes the Department of Elections to limit a locality's access to the Virginia voter registration system if it is determined that the county or city has failed to develop security plans and procedures or to comply with the security standards established by the State Board; such access would be limited as necessary to address and resolve any security risks or to enforce compliance. Records describing protocols for maintaining the security of the Virginia voter registration system and the supporting technologies utilized to maintain and record registrant information are exempted from the Freedom of Information Act and meetings to discuss such protocols are permitted to be closed pursuant to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. The bill requires the State Board of Elections to convene a work group prior to adopting security standards and to establish a standing advisory group of local government IT professionals and general registrars to assist and consult on updates to security standards."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2019"
identifier: "HB 2178"
citation: "Virginia HB 2178 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Administration of Government", "Commissions", "Boards and Institutions Generally", "Elections"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Mark D. Sickles"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 30
vote_count: 10
first_action: "2019-01-08"
last_action: "2019-03-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d690a3b4-df41-46d5-a59c-1460e8dcf46d"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+sum+HB2178"
source_hash: "0ea43bdeb6d05724e6f0514f7160e6e1459317d8e70fbc3b4904827ccaea9990"
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 2178 (2019) — Virginia voter registration system; security plans & procedures, update of security standards, etc.

Directs the State Board of Elections to promulgate regulations and standards necessary to ensure the security and integrity of the Virginia voter registration system and the supporting technologies utilized by the counties and cities to maintain and record registrant information. The local electoral boards are also required to develop and update annually written plans and procedures to ensure the security and integrity of the supporting technologies. The local electoral boards are further required to report annually to the Department of Elections on their security plans and procedures. The bill authorizes the Department of Elections to limit a locality's access to the Virginia voter registration system if it is determined that the county or city has failed to develop security plans and procedures or to comply with the security standards established by the State Board; such access would be limited as necessary to address and resolve any security risks or to enforce compliance. Records describing protocols for maintaining the security of the Virginia voter registration system and the supporting technologies utilized to maintain and record registrant information are exempted from the Freedom of Information Act and meetings to discuss such protocols are permitted to be closed pursuant to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. The bill requires the State Board of Elections to convene a work group prior to adopting security standards and to establish a standing advisory group of local government IT professionals and general registrars to assist and consult on updates to security standards.

## Version chain

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

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0426)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+CHAP0426)
2. **House amendments adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+amd+HB2178AH)
3. **House subcommittee amendments and substitutes adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](https://committees.lis.virginia.gov/subcommitteeaction.aspx?ses=191&bil=HB2178)
4. **House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB2178ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2178ER)
5. **House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/19 19101864D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2178)
6. **House: Printed as engrossed 19101864D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2178E)
7. **Senate amendments engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+amd+HB2178ASE)

## Votes

- Reported from Privileges and Elections with amendment — **13–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Privileges and Elections with amendments — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Read third time and passed House — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments — **6–0** (pass) · lower
- Senate amendment rejected by House — **0–98** (fail) · lower
- Senate insisted on amendment — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Conference report agreed to by House — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Conference report agreed to by Senate — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate with amendment — **40–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Mark D. Sickles — primary (person)
- Alfonso H. Lopez — cosponsor (person)
- Nick Rush — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/19 19101864D `introduction`
- **2019-01-08** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-21** Assigned P & E sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-03** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2019-02-04** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2019-02-04** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2019-02-04** Engrossed by House as amended HB2178E
- **2019-02-04** Printed as engrossed 19101864D-E
- **2019-02-05** Read third time and passed House (99-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-02-06** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2019-02-06** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-15** Passed by for the day
- **2019-02-18** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2019-02-18** Reading of amendment waived
- **2019-02-18** Committee amendment agreed to
- **2019-02-18** Engrossed by Senate as amended
- **2019-02-19** Placed on Calendar
- **2019-02-19** Senate amendment rejected by House (0-Y 98-N)
- **2019-02-20** Senate requested conference committee
- **2019-02-21** House acceded to request
- **2019-02-21** Conferees appointed by House
- **2019-02-21** Conferees appointed by Senate
- **2019-02-23** Amended by conference committee
- **2019-02-23** Conference report agreed to by House (98-Y 0-N)
- **2019-03-07** Enrolled
- **2019-03-07** Signed by Speaker
- **2019-03-09** Signed by President
- **2019-03-11** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 11, 2019
- **2019-03-11** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 26, 2019
- **2019-03-18** Approved by Governor-Chapter 426 (effective 7/1/19) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d690a3b4-df41-46d5-a59c-1460e8dcf46d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).