republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/hb-1210.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	Minority language accessibility; voting and election materials.	Minority language accessibility; voting and election materials. Requires the State Board of Elections to prescribe, and a covered locality to provide, voting and election materials in languages other than English. A county, city, or town is designated by the State Board as a covered locality if the State Board determines, in consultation with the Director of the Census, based on the 2010 American Community Survey census data and subsequent American Community Survey data in five-year increments, or comparable census data, that (i) either (a) more than five percent of the citizens of voting age of such county, city, or town are members of a single language minority and are unable to speak or understand English adequately enough to participate in the electoral process; (b) more than 10,000 of the citizens of voting age of such county, city, or town are members of a single language minority and are unable to speak or understand English adequately enough to participate in the electoral process; or (c) in the case of a county, city, or town containing all or any part of an Indian reservation, more than five percent of the American Indian citizens of voting age within the Indian reservation are members of a single language minority and are unable to speak or understand English adequately enough to participate in the electoral process and (ii) the illiteracy rate of the citizens of the language minority as a group is higher than the national illiteracy rate. The bill also allows the State Board to make available voting and election materials in any additional languages other than those required as it deems necessary and appropriate. The State Board may accept voting and election materials translated by volunteers but shall verify the accuracy of such translations prior to making the translated materials available to a county, city, or town, or any voter. The bill has a delayed effective date of September 1, 2021.	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2020	HB 1210	Virginia HB 1210 (2020)	bill		enacted	Kathy K.L. Tran	4	34	7	2020-01-07	2020-04-06	openstates	ocd-bill/a2869cd8-c892-4a24-8f30-99cf52f3b44e	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB1210	b74b48ded9e4e45f3c5b85043d6f919ed9c973d49e395ffecb8a1fe52824e9e7	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia HB 1210 (2020) — Minority language accessibility; voting and election materials.

Minority language accessibility; voting and election materials. Requires the State Board of Elections to prescribe, and a covered locality to provide, voting and election materials in languages other than English. A county, city, or town is designated by the State Board as a covered locality if the State Board determines, in consultation with the Director of the Census, based on the 2010 American Community Survey census data and subsequent American Community Survey data in five-year increments, or comparable census data, that (i) either (a) more than five percent of the citizens of voting age of such county, city, or town are members of a single language minority and are unable to speak or understand English adequately enough to participate in the electoral process; (b) more than 10,000 of the citizens of voting age of such county, city, or town are members of a single language minority and are unable to speak or understand English adequately enough to participate in the electoral process; or (c) in the case of a county, city, or town containing all or any part of an Indian reservation, more than five percent of the American Indian citizens of voting age within the Indian reservation are members of a single language minority and are unable to speak or understand English adequately enough to participate in the electoral process and (ii) the illiteracy rate of the citizens of the language minority as a group is higher than the national illiteracy rate. The bill also allows the State Board to make available voting and election materials in any additional languages other than those required as it deems necessary and appropriate. The State Board may accept voting and election materials translated by volunteers but shall verify the accuracy of such translations prior to making the translated materials available to a county, city, or town, or any voter. The bill has a delayed effective date of September 1, 2021.

Version chain

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

1. Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0719) (committee substitute) — source
2. Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1210ER) (committee substitute) — source
3. Engrossed by House as amended HB1210E (committee substitute) — source
4. Impact statement from DPB (HB1210) (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — 40–0 (pass) · upper
• Reported from Privileges and Elections with amendments (15-Y 6-N) — 15–6 (pass) · lower
• VOTE: Passage (64-Y 34-N) — 63–34 (pass) · lower
• VOTE: Adoption (60-Y 38-N) — 59–38 (pass) · lower
• Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (4-Y 2-N) — 4–2 (pass) · lower
• Passed Senate with amendments (23-Y 13-N) — 23–13 (pass) · upper
• Reported from Privileges and Elections with amendments (12-Y 3-N) — 12–3 (pass) · upper

Sponsors

• Kathy K.L. Tran — primary (person)
• Elizabeth R. Guzman — cosponsor (person)
• Kaye Kory — cosponsor (person)
• Mark H. Levine — cosponsor (person)

Timeline

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

• 2020-01-07 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20103702D introduction
• 2020-01-07 Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections referral-committee
• 2020-01-13 Assigned P & E sub: Gubernatorial Appointments referral-committee
• 2020-01-21 Impact statement from DPB (HB1210)
• 2020-01-29 House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
• 2020-01-29 Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (4-Y 2-N)
• 2020-01-31 Reported from Privileges and Elections with amendments (15-Y 6-N) committee-passage
• 2020-02-04 Read first time reading-1
• 2020-02-05 Read second time reading-2
• 2020-02-05 Committee amendments agreed to
• 2020-02-05 Engrossed by House as amended HB1210E
• 2020-02-05 Printed as engrossed 20103702D-E
• 2020-02-06 Read third time and passed House (64-Y 34-N) passage, reading-3
• 2020-02-06 VOTE: Passage (64-Y 34-N)
• 2020-02-07 Constitutional reading dispensed
• 2020-02-07 Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections referral-committee
• 2020-02-12 Impact statement from DPB (HB1210E)
• 2020-02-25 Reported from Privileges and Elections with amendments (12-Y 3-N) committee-passage
• 2020-02-27 Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
• 2020-02-28 Read third time reading-3
• 2020-02-28 Reading of amendments waived
• 2020-02-28 Committee amendments agreed to
• 2020-02-28 Engrossed by Senate as amended
• 2020-02-28 Passed Senate with amendments (23-Y 13-N) passage
• 2020-03-02 Placed on Calendar
• 2020-03-02 Senate amendments agreed to by House (60-Y 38-N)
• 2020-03-02 VOTE: Adoption (60-Y 38-N)
• 2020-03-05 Enrolled
• 2020-03-06 Impact statement from DPB (HB1210ER)
• 2020-03-06 Signed by Speaker
• 2020-03-06 Signed by President
• 2020-03-12 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 12, 2020
• 2020-03-12 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
• 2020-04-06 Approved by Governor-Chapter 719 (effective 9/1/21) executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/a2869cd8-c892-4a24-8f30-99cf52f3b44e. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).