republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/hb-78.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	Elections administration; duties of local electoral boards, certification of election, etc.	Elections administration; duties of local electoral boards; certification of election; grounds for removal; civil penalty. Provides that the certification of the results of an election is a clear ministerial duty of the local electoral boards and that a member of the local electoral board who neglects or refuses to perform such duty in accordance with law shall be subject to removal proceedings by the State Board of Elections and assessed a civil penalty not exceeding $1,000. The bill also authorizes the State Board of Elections to intervene and carry out the duties related to election certification in the event a local electoral board fails or refuses to do so.	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2026	HB 78	Virginia HB 78 (2026)	bill		enacted	Marcia S. "Cia" Price	5	34	7	2025-12-31	2026-04-06	openstates	ocd-bill/521d3725-6b0e-46d0-946d-53b9548caa84	https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB78	4ce5ff5af3457002b5d500067394a3afe2c781e718a95a5187334410328d3306	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia HB 78 (2026) — Elections administration; duties of local electoral boards, certification of election, etc.

Elections administration; duties of local electoral boards; certification of election; grounds for removal; civil penalty. Provides that the certification of the results of an election is a clear ministerial duty of the local electoral boards and that a member of the local electoral board who neglects or refuses to perform such duty in accordance with law shall be subject to removal proceedings by the State Board of Elections and assessed a civil penalty not exceeding $1,000. The bill also authorizes the State Board of Elections to intervene and carry out the duties related to election certification in the event a local electoral board fails or refuses to do so.

Version chain

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

1. Introduced (filed) — source
2. Chaptered (committee substitute) — source
3. Engrossed (committee substitute) — source
4. Privileges and Elections Amendment (committee substitute) — source
5. Enrolled (enrolled) — source

Votes

• Reported from Privileges and Elections with amendment(s) — 22–0 (pass) · lower
• H VOTE: — 92–6 (pass) · lower
• Reported from Privileges and Elections — 8–7 (pass) · upper
• Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — 40–0 (pass) · upper
• Subcommittee recommends reporting — 6–2 (pass) · lower
• Subcommittee recommends reporting — 8–0 (pass) · lower
• Passage R — 25–15 (pass) · upper

Sponsors

• Marcia S. "Cia" Price — primary (person)
• Debra D. Gardner — cosponsor (person)
• Jackie H. Glass — cosponsor (person)
• Lashrecse D. Aird — cosponsor (person)
• Mamie E. Locke — cosponsor (person)
• Nadarius E. Clark — cosponsor (person)

Timeline

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

• 2025-12-31 Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101440D filing, introduction
• 2025-12-31 Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections referral-committee
• 2026-01-21 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB78)
• 2026-01-25 Assigned HPE sub: Election Administration referral-committee
• 2026-01-26 Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
• 2026-01-26 Reconsidered by Privileges and Elections (Voice Vote)
• 2026-01-26 Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 2-N)
• 2026-01-30 House committee offered
• 2026-01-30 Reported from Privileges and Elections with amendment(s) (22-Y 0-N) committee-passage
• 2026-01-30 Read first time reading-1
• 2026-02-02 Read second time reading-2
• 2026-02-02 committee amendments agreed to amendment-passage
• 2026-02-02 Engrossed by House as amended
• 2026-02-03 Moved from Uncontested Calendar to Regular Calendar
• 2026-02-03 Read third time and passed House (92-Y 6-N 0-A) passage, reading-3
• 2026-02-04 Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
• 2026-02-04 Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections referral-committee
• 2026-02-11 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB78)
• 2026-02-24 Reported from Privileges and Elections (8-Y 7-N) committee-passage
• 2026-02-26 Rules suspended
• 2026-02-26 Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
• 2026-02-26 Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
• 2026-02-27 Read third time reading-3
• 2026-02-27 Passed by for the day
• 2026-03-02 Passed Senate (25-Y 15-N 0-A) passage
• 2026-03-06 Enrolled enrolled
• 2026-03-06 Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB78ER) passage
• 2026-03-06 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB78)
• 2026-03-06 Signed by Speaker passage
• 2026-03-06 Signed by President passage
• 2026-03-10 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 enrolled, executive-receipt
• 2026-03-10 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 executive-receipt
• 2026-04-06 Approved by Governor-Chapter 60 (effective 7/1/2026) executive-signature
• 2026-04-06 Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0060)

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/521d3725-6b0e-46d0-946d-53b9548caa84. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).