HB 1244 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Absentee voting; emergency application for absentee ballot.

Summary

Absentee voting; emergency application for absentee ballot. Provides that a qualified voter may apply for an emergency absentee ballot if he has applied to receive an absentee ballot by the deadline but has not received his ballot within 10 days of the election and will be unable to vote on election day due to his hospitalization or illness, the hospitalization, illness, or death of a spouse, child, or parent, or other emergency found to justify receipt of an emergency absentee ballot.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Feb 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

Signed into Law

Apr 2026

Introduced Jan 14, 2026 Signed Apr 13, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Privileges and Elections Substitute → Enrolled · 2 edits · Mar 9, 2026

MINOR

This bill updates the legislative title to reflect its final enrolled status for the 2026 session and standardizes the formatting of legal citations within the text. No substantive policy changes were made to the eligibility criteria, voting procedures, or deadlines for emergency absentee ballots.

TECHNICAL

Updated the document header to change the status from 'Substitute' to 'Enrolled' and added the official session year.

Standardized the formatting of legal code references (e.g., changing '§ 24.2-1016' to '§ 24.2-1016') throughout the text.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 26, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 3, 2026

How they voted

39–0

Passed

Total votes 39

Feb 26, 2026

D Democratic20

20 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican19

19 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 13, 2026

Signed into law

Approved by Governor-Chapter 761 (effective 7/1/2026)

executive

Mar 9, 2026

Upper · Passed

Signed by President

upper

Mar 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

Signed by Speaker

lower

Mar 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1244ER)

lower

Mar 2, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Senate (24-Y 16-N 0-A)

upper

Feb 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed by for the day

upper

Feb 26, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)

upper

Feb 24, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from Privileges and Elections (13-Y 2-N)

upper

Feb 4, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections

upper

Feb 3, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time and passed House (92-Y 5-N 0-A)

lower

Jan 30, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from Privileges and Elections with substitute (22-Y 0-N)

lower

Jan 29, 2026

Lower · Passed

House committee offered

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Lower · Passed

House subcommittee offered

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Committee

Assigned HPE sub: Voting Rights

lower

Jan 14, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections

lower

1 primary · 3 co-sponsors