Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; defense to action for possessions for nonpayment of rent.

All provisions related to the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, specifically the ability for tenants to use a landlord's noncompliance as a defense against eviction for nonpayment of rent, have been deleted.

New requirements were added for the Department of Elections to conduct annual reviews of data sources used for list maintenance and to report on the accuracy and reliability of that data.

New security standards were established requiring local electoral boards to develop written security plans for their voter registration systems and report them annually to the Department of Elections.

New restrictions were placed on closed government meetings, expanding the list of permissible topics (such as cybersecurity threats and specific healthcare data) and clarifying that actions taken in closed meetings must be ratified in open session.

A new Article 2.1 was added to the Code of Virginia specifically dedicated to 'List Maintenance,' detailing the procedures for matching voter records with external data sources like death records and felony convictions.

The effective date for the new voter registration and security provisions was set to July 1, 2027, while the new rules for closed government meetings are set to take effect on July 1, 2026.

Added a new Section 2 specifying that the act becomes effective on January 1, 2027.

Replaced draft headers and amendment markers with official 'Enrolled' formatting and bill numbers.