Fabio
118 lines
7.9 KiB
Markdown
118 lines
7.9 KiB
Markdown
---
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type: "Bill"
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title: "Back-end, opt-out automatic voter registration; work group to study implementation."
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description: "Secretary of Administration; work group on automatic voter registration. Directs the Department of Elections to convene a work group for the purpose of studying the implementation of back-end, opt-out automatic voter registration (AVR) in the Commonwealth. The work group shall include representatives of the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, and the Office of the Attorney General, in addition to members of the House and Senate Committees on Privileges and Elections, general registrars, and organizations advocating for or working on voting rights and data privacy. The work group is tasked with considering the effectiveness, efficiency, and security of back-end, opt-out AVR as compared to Virginia's current front-end, opt-out process and identifying the costs and benefits of moving to such a system. The Secretary of Administration is required to submit a report of the work group's findings to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Privileges and Elections by November 1, 2026. This bill is identical to SB 658."
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jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
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legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
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session: "2026"
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identifier: "HB 319"
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citation: "Virginia HB 319 (2026)"
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classification: ["bill"]
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subjects: []
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status: "enacted"
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primary_sponsors: ["Phil M. Hernandez"]
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version_count: 6
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action_count: 45
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vote_count: 10
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first_action: "2026-01-10"
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last_action: "2026-04-13"
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source: "openstates"
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source_identifier: "ocd-bill/aad2c5aa-573d-4620-8d85-f998b035239a"
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source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB319"
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source_hash: "042a870a83dbd9a0331f62ff934fe69d25691693d40b8c7ca695418e4813fd98"
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vintage: "2026-07-01"
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source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
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retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
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confidence: "reported"
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tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
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---
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# Virginia HB 319 (2026) — Back-end, opt-out automatic voter registration; work group to study implementation.
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Secretary of Administration; work group on automatic voter registration. Directs the Department of Elections to convene a work group for the purpose of studying the implementation of back-end, opt-out automatic voter registration (AVR) in the Commonwealth. The work group shall include representatives of the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, and the Office of the Attorney General, in addition to members of the House and Senate Committees on Privileges and Elections, general registrars, and organizations advocating for or working on voting rights and data privacy. The work group is tasked with considering the effectiveness, efficiency, and security of back-end, opt-out AVR as compared to Virginia's current front-end, opt-out process and identifying the costs and benefits of moving to such a system. The Secretary of Administration is required to submit a report of the work group's findings to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Privileges and Elections by November 1, 2026. This bill is identical to SB 658.
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## Version chain
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The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
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1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1083849.PDF)
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2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1218951.PDF)
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3. **Conference Report** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1210028.HTML)
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4. **Conference Report Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1210024.PDF)
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5. **Privileges and Elections Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1179129.PDF)
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6. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1213714.PDF)
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## Votes
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- H VOTE: — **61–31** (pass) · lower
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- Reported from Privileges and Elections with substitute — **8–7** (pass) · upper
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- Insist & Request R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
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- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **5–2** (pass) · lower
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- Adopt Conference Committee Report R — **21–16** (pass) · upper
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- Passage R — **21–19** (pass) · upper
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- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
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- Reported from Privileges and Elections — **15–6** (pass) · lower
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- H VOTE: — **0–96** (fail) · lower
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- H VOTE: — **60–35** (pass) · lower
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## Sponsors
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- Phil M. Hernandez — primary (person)
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- Bonita G. Anthony — cosponsor (person)
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- Marcia S. "Cia" Price — cosponsor (person)
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## Timeline
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The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
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- **2026-01-10** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101442D `filing, introduction`
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- **2026-01-10** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
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- **2026-02-03** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB319)
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- **2026-02-06** Assigned HPE sub: Election Administration `referral-committee`
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- **2026-02-09** Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 2-N)
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- **2026-02-13** Reported from Privileges and Elections (15-Y 6-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2026-02-15** Read first time `reading-1`
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- **2026-02-16** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
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- **2026-02-17** Read third time and passed House (61-Y 35-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
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- **2026-02-18** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
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- **2026-02-18** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
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- **2026-02-24** Reported from Privileges and Elections with substitute (8-Y 7-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2026-02-24** Senate committee offered
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- **2026-02-24** Senate committee offered
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- **2026-02-24** Committee substitute printed 26108498D-S1 `substitution`
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- **2026-02-26** Rules suspended
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- **2026-02-26** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
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- **2026-02-26** Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
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- **2026-02-27** Read third time `reading-3`
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- **2026-02-27** Passed by for the day
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- **2026-03-02** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB319)
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- **2026-03-02** Privileges and Elections Substitute agreed to
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- **2026-03-02** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute `substitution`
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- **2026-03-02** Passed Senate with substitute (21-Y 19-N 0-A) `passage`
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- **2026-03-04** Senate substitute rejected by House (0-Y 96-N 0-A)
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- **2026-03-06** Senate insisted on amendments (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
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- **2026-03-06** Senate requested conference committee `referral-committee`
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- **2026-03-09** House acceded to request
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- **2026-03-10** Conferees appointed by Senate
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- **2026-03-10** Senate Conferees: Rouse, Deeds, Williams Graves
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- **2026-03-12** Conferees appointed by House
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- **2026-03-12** House Conferees: Hernandez, Price, Cherry
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- **2026-03-13** Conference Report released
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- **2026-03-13** Conference report agreed to by Senate (21-Y 16-N 0-A) `committee-passage-favorable`
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- **2026-03-13** Conference report agreed to by House (61-Y 31-N 0-A) `committee-passage-favorable`
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- **2026-03-16** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB319)
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- **2026-03-30** Enrolled `enrolled`
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- **2026-03-30** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB319ER) `passage`
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- **2026-03-30** Signed by President `passage`
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- **2026-03-31** Signed by Speaker `passage`
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- **2026-03-31** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
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- **2026-03-31** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
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- **2026-04-06** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB319)
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- **2026-04-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 589 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
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- **2026-04-13** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0589)
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## Source
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OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/aad2c5aa-573d-4620-8d85-f998b035239a`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).
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