republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2023/hb-1948.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Absentee voting; removes witness requirement, required information on return ballot envelope."
description: "Absentee voting; removes witness requirement, required information on return ballot envelope."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 1948"
citation: "Virginia HB 1948 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bloxom"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 41
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2023-01-10"
last_action: "2023-04-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b58cdef4-d0a8-4eeb-8705-72e482ca196f"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+sum+HB1948"
source_hash: "212bd1de9468fac82306e5a6e34b71ed67f8277520de89e3f5e177dcae7a2259"
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 1948 (2023) — Absentee voting; removes witness requirement, required information on return ballot envelope.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0785** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+CHAP0785)
2. **Committee substitute printed 23105545D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+HB1948H1)
3. **Governor's substitute printed 23107784D-H2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+HB1948H2)
4. **HB1948ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+HB1948ER)
5. **HB1948ER2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+HB1948ER2)
6. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/23 23100850D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+HB1948)

## Votes

- Reported from Privileges and Elections with substitute (22-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Reported from Privileges and Elections (13-Y 2-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- VOTE: Adoption (95-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Passed Senate (35-Y 4-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Senate concurred in Governor's recommendation (40-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper

## Sponsors

- Bloxom — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-10** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/23 23100850D `filing, introduction`
- **2023-01-10** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-19** Impact statement from DPB (HB1948)
- **2023-01-23** Assigned P & E sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-25** Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
- **2023-01-27** House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2023-01-27** Reported from Privileges and Elections with substitute (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2023-01-27** Committee substitute printed 23105545D-H1 `substitution`
- **2023-01-30** Impact statement from DPB (HB1948H1)
- **2023-01-31** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2023-02-01** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2023-02-01** Committee substitute agreed to 23105545D-H1 `substitution`
- **2023-02-01** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB1948H1 `substitution`
- **2023-02-02** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-02** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2023-02-03** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2023-02-03** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-14** Reported from Privileges and Elections (13-Y 2-N) `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-16** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2023-02-17** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2023-02-17** Passed Senate (35-Y 4-N) `passage`
- **2023-02-22** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2023-02-22** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1948ER) `passage`
- **2023-02-22** Impact statement from DPB (HB1948ER)
- **2023-02-22** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-02-24** Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-03-02** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 2, 2023 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2023-03-02** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 27, 2023 `executive-receipt`
- **2023-03-27** Governor's recommendation received by House `executive-veto-line-item`
- **2023-03-27** Governor's substitute printed 23107784D-H2
- **2023-04-12** Placed on Calendar
- **2023-04-12** House concurred in Governor's recommendation (95-Y 0-N)
- **2023-04-12** VOTE: Adoption (95-Y 0-N)
- **2023-04-12** Senate concurred in Governor's recommendation (40-Y 0-N)
- **2023-04-12** Governor's recommendation adopted `executive-signature`
- **2023-04-12** Reenrolled `enrolled`
- **2023-04-12** Reenrolled bill text (HB1948ER2) `enrolled`
- **2023-04-12** Signed by Speaker as reenrolled `enrolled, passage`
- **2023-04-12** Signed by President as reenrolled `enrolled, passage`
- **2023-04-12** Enacted, Chapter 785 (effective 7/1/23) `became-law`
- **2023-04-12** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0785)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b58cdef4-d0a8-4eeb-8705-72e482ca196f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).