republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/sb-111.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Absentee voting; no excuse required, voting by absentee ballot."
description: "Absentee voting; no excuse required. Permits any registered voter to vote by absentee ballot in any election in which he is qualified to vote. The bill removes the current list of statutory reasons under which a person may be entitled to vote by absentee ballot and removes references to those reasons from other sections of the Code. This bill incorporates SB 45, SB 137, SB 696, and SB 879."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 111"
citation: "Virginia SB 111 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Janet D. Howell"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 38
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2019-12-12"
last_action: "2020-04-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/bf257637-e780-483c-b67f-cadae7398625"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB111"
source_hash: "b11fba14f500987249def8c676daa48a9b05413e49e70379af36fc571971be45"
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 111 (2020) — Absentee voting; no excuse required, voting by absentee ballot.

Absentee voting; no excuse required. Permits any registered voter to vote by absentee ballot in any election in which he is qualified to vote. The bill removes the current list of statutory reasons under which a person may be entitled to vote by absentee ballot and removes references to those reasons from other sections of the Code. This bill incorporates SB 45, SB 137, SB 696, and SB 879.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP1151)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP1151)
2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB111ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB111ER)
3. **Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB111S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB111S1)
4. **Impact statement from DPB (SB111)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB111)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment (5-Y 1-N) — **5–1** (pass) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (31-Y 9-N) — **31–9** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (62-Y 38-N) — **61–38** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Privileges and Elections with amendment (13-Y 7-N) — **13–7** (pass) · lower
- House amendment agreed to by Senate (24-Y 14-N) — **24–14** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Privileges and Elections with substitute (11-Y 4-N) — **11–4** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Janet D. Howell — primary (person)
- Adam P. Ebbin — cosponsor (person)
- Jennifer B. Boysko — cosponsor (person)
- Jennifer L. McClellan — cosponsor (person)
- Jill Holtzman Vogel — cosponsor (person)
- Kaye Kory — cosponsor (person)
- Lionell Spruill, Sr. — cosponsor (person)
- Lynwood W. Lewis, Jr. — cosponsor (person)
- Mamie E. Locke — cosponsor (person)
- Richard H. Stuart — cosponsor (person)
- T. Montgomery "Monty" Mason — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-12-12** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20101367D `introduction`
- **2019-12-12** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-14** Impact statement from DPB (SB111)
- **2020-01-14** Reported from Privileges and Elections with substitute (11-Y 4-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-14** Committee substitute printed 20105793D-S1 `substitution`
- **2020-01-14** Incorporates SB45 (Spruill)
- **2020-01-14** Incorporates SB137 (Stuart)
- **2020-01-15** Incorporates SB696 (Mason)
- **2020-01-15** Incorporates SB879 (Locke)
- **2020-01-16** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-01-17** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-01-17** Reading of substitute waived
- **2020-01-17** Committee substitute agreed to 20105793D-S1
- **2020-01-17** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB111S1
- **2020-01-20** Read third time and passed Senate (31-Y 9-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-01-30** Impact statement from DHCD/CLG (SB111)
- **2020-01-30** Impact statement from DPB (SB111S1)
- **2020-02-13** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-02-13** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-13** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-14** Assigned P & E sub: Elections `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-18** House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-02-18** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment (5-Y 1-N)
- **2020-02-21** Reported from Privileges and Elections with amendment (13-Y 7-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-25** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-26** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-26** Committee amendment agreed to
- **2020-02-26** Engrossed by House as amended
- **2020-02-26** Passed House with amendment (62-Y 38-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-26** VOTE: Passage (62-Y 38-N)
- **2020-02-28** House amendment agreed to by Senate (24-Y 14-N)
- **2020-03-05** Enrolled
- **2020-03-06** Impact statement from DPB (SB111ER)
- **2020-03-06** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-07** 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
- **2020-04-11** Approved by Governor-Chapter 1151 (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/bf257637-e780-483c-b67f-cadae7398625`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).