Blocked: State Senate panel halts GOP effort to limit access to voting in Virginia

The Democratic-controlled Senate Privileges and Elections Committee on Tuesday afternoon struck down several Republican-backed bills aimed at restricting voting access in Virginia while advancing measures to expand ballot accessibility, including a local option for ranked choice voting.

Defeated proposals included stricter photo ID requirements, a shorter early voting period, and tighter voter registration verification rules. Despite the partisan divide, the committee unanimously approved a bipartisan bill to shorten the voter registration closure period, signaling rare cooperation in an otherwise contentious debate over election laws.

By an 8-7 party-line vote, the panel killed a Republican proposal to reinstate stricter photo ID requirements for voters. Senate Bill 1070, sponsored by Sen. Mark Peake, R-Lynchburg, would have required voters to present a photo ID at the polls, ending the current option to sign a statement affirming identity under penalty of perjury.

Peake defended the measure, saying photo ID laws previously worked well in Virginia and enjoyed broad public support. “Eighty percent of the population supports photo ID, and I’m just trying to help bring the commonwealth into agreement with that 80%,” he said.

A national Gallup poll from October found that 84% of Americans favored a photo ID requirement for voting.

Supporters, like Melody Clarke of Virginia Institute Action, argued that voter ID laws increase trust in elections and boost minority participation. Opponents, including Chris DeRosa of the Virginia League of Women Voters, countered that the bill would turn away legitimate voters without improving election security.

By another 8-7 party-line vote, the committee defeated another Peake proposal to reduce the early voting period for primary elections from 45 days to 14 days. SB 1072, merged with an identical bill from Sen. Timmy French, R-Shenandoah, aimed to streamline election operations and reduce costs associated with maintaining lengthy early voting periods, according to Peake.

Peake argued the change is necessary to address overburdened registrars and underutilized resources during early voting.

“Fourteen days is more than enough for primaries,” he said. “Registrars are horribly overworked, and people are not showing up in these primaries, even the presidential ones.” French added that the current 45-day period was costly for localities in his district, stating, “It’s costing about $150,000 a year in my district alone — money that could go to schools.”

Supporters of the bill, including Clarke of Virginia Institute Action, highlighted the financial and personal toll of extended early voting. “These very extended elections cost a lot of money, and it’s not just money. Grandmothers who work in registrar’s offices don’t get to spend time with their grandkids because of 45 days of early voting,” Clarke said.

Opponents, however, warned the proposal would reduce voter access and create barriers for those with limited availability.

Kristin Szakos, an election worker from Charlottesville, said the longer early voting window reduces Election Day congestion and helps prevent errors.

Gaylene Kanoyton of the Virginia NAACP emphasized the importance of prioritizing voter access over cost savings. “Once you start cutting back on voting rights and cutting back on access, it’s going to keep cutting, and we’re not going for it at all,” she said.

Committee members also debated the bill’s potential impact.

Sen. Bill DeSteph, R-Virginia Beach, supported the proposal, citing weeks of low voter turnout in smaller jurisdictions. “The last two weeks or 14 days is very reasonable,” he said.

But Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico, opposed the measure, arguing that elections should focus on voters’ needs, not registrars. “It’s not ‘We the registrars of the United States.’ It’s ‘We the People,’” he said.

In closing, Peake called the current 45-day period excessive and costly. “135 days of early voting out of 365 is absurd,” he said. Despite his arguments, Democrats on the panel ultimately rejected the proposal.

The panel further voted to defeat SB 1073, another Peake proposal which proposed verifying voter registration information — such as Social Security numbers — against federal or state databases before finalizing registration.

Peake argued the bill would bolster election security and prevent fraud.

“We could make sure that our elections would be foolproof, and that way when somebody lost, as a sore loser, they can’t go around saying, ‘Oh, I think some illegal person voted in the election and cost me the election,’” Peake said. He called the requirement “very easy” and emphasized it would apply only to new registrations.

Supporters like Clarke of Virginia Institute Action called the bill “common sense,” adding, “It’s unfortunate that we have so many measures that would help all Virginians, including your constituents, of the individuals who are voting against these measures.”

Critics argued the measure would create barriers for voters and overburden local election offices. “This requirement would impose undue and costly burdens on local offices of voter registration and likely lead to the denial of the right to vote to qualified residents,” Szakos, the election worker from Charlottesville, said.

Democrats on the committee ultimately defeated the proposal, citing concerns about restricting voter access.

But they advanced a bill that would allow localities to use ranked choice voting for local offices, such as mayoral and school board elections. SB 1009, sponsored by Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim, D-Fairfax, passed on an 8-7 party-line vote.

Ranked choice voting enables voters to rank candidates in order of preference, redistributing votes until a candidate secures a majority.

Salim’s legislation directs the State Board of Elections to establish standards, approve compatible vote tabulation software, and create educational materials to inform voters about the system. It also requires the Department of Elections to review the state’s voting equipment testing process and submit a report by 2026.

“This bill provides localities the flexibility to include mayoral and school board races in their adoption of ranked choice voting,” Salim said. “It clarifies and continues the concept, allowing every jurisdiction to choose how to make every vote count in a way that fits their community.”

Supporters highlighted the benefits of ranked choice voting in crowded local races. Sean Crow of UpVote Virginia noted examples of races where localities could improve outcomes, such as Arlington’s sheriff races, Loudoun County’s school board contests, and mayoral elections in Newport News and Richmond.

“All of these are local races with crowded fields, and all of these are races which are currently not covered under the ranked choice voting local option,” Crow said.

Fatima Moaihead of the Humanization Project emphasized how ranked choice voting could amplify underrepresented voices. “This bill provides each community the opportunity to choose how to best get voters’ voices heard for all local offices, not just some,” she said.

However, opponents argued that it complicates voting and could discourage turnout.

Clarke of Virginia Institute Action expressed concerns about its impact on elections. “We are opposed to ranked choice voting because the ballots are more complex than the traditional one person, one vote,” she said, adding that turnout tends to drop in districts adopting RCV.

The proposal, seen by supporters as a step toward modernizing Virginia’s election practices, now heads to the full Senate for consideration.

In a rare display of bipartisan support, the committee unanimously advanced a proposal to reduce the period when voter registration records are closed before elections. SB 991, sponsored by Sen. Angelia Williams Graves, D-Norfolk, aims to align voter registration deadlines more closely with absentee ballot requests, giving Virginians more time to register ahead of elections.

“What this does is just bring all of those dates in line to the same date,” Williams Graves explained. “The last day to register to vote and the last day to request an absentee ballot are now 10 days prior to election day. This bill came from the registrars.”

Under the proposed change, the closure period for voter registration would decrease from 21 days to 10 days for primary and general elections. For most special elections, the period would shrink from 13 days to 10 days.

Supporters say the adjustment would improve accessibility, particularly for voters who register closer to Election Day.

David Bailey of the Voter Registrar Association voiced support for the measure, noting that it could ease administrative burdens.

“When you cut off at 21 days, certainly you could have more people that happen to go provisionally or have to come back later,” Bailey said. “If you allow the registration to go ahead and take place up until 10 days, it should shorten some of the work.”

If enacted, the bill could simplify voter registration timelines and encourage greater participation, while also helping election officials better accommodate last-minute registrants.