Files
republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/hb-78.md
T
2026-07-06 17:28:36 -04:00

106 lines
6.3 KiB
Markdown
Raw Blame History

This file contains ambiguous Unicode characters
This file contains Unicode characters that might be confused with other characters. If you think that this is intentional, you can safely ignore this warning. Use the Escape button to reveal them.
---
type: "Bill"
title: "Elections administration; duties of local electoral boards, certification of election, etc."
description: "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."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 78"
citation: "Virginia HB 78 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Marcia S. \"Cia\" Price"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 34
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2025-12-31"
last_action: "2026-04-06"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/521d3725-6b0e-46d0-946d-53b9548caa84"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB78"
source_hash: "4ce5ff5af3457002b5d500067394a3afe2c781e718a95a5187334410328d3306"
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 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](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082288.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216222.PDF)
3. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1105115.PDF)
4. **Privileges and Elections Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1103899.HTML)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1193773.PDF)
## Votes
- Reported from Privileges and Elections with amendment(s) — **220** (pass) · lower
- H VOTE: — **926** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Privileges and Elections — **87** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **400** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **62** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **80** (pass) · lower
- Passage R — **2515** (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](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/521d3725-6b0e-46d0-946d-53b9548caa84`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).