SB 831 Virginia Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Challenges of qualified voters; duty of local electoral board to certify, civil penalty.

Summary

Elections; challenges of qualified voters; duty of local electoral board to certify; 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. Additionally, the bill prohibits challenges to a voter's qualification to vote from any person who is not an officer of election.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Feb 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 23, 2026 Last action Feb 12, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → Privileges and Elections Substitute · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended from its original introduction to a substitute version by the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections. The main substantive change is the addition of a new section 24.2-703.1:1 related to permanent general election absentee lists, which was not present in the original version. The bill also adds 24.2-1001.1 regarding civil penalties for election officials who fail to certify election results.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to include a new section addressing permanent general election absentee lists (24.2-703.1:1) and added a new section on civil penalties for election certification failures (24.2-1001.1). The original scope only mentioned adding section 24.2-1001.1.

REQUIREMENT

Added a new section 24.2-703.1:1 establishing requirements for permanent general election absentee lists, which creates a new mechanism for managing absentee voter records.

ENFORCEMENT

Added section 24.2-1001.1 which imposes a civil penalty of up to $1,000 on electoral board members who fail or refuse to certify election results, payable to the Voter Education and Outreach Fund.

SCOPE

The bill's scope was modified to include additional Code of Virginia sections (24.2-701) for amendment and reenactment, expanding the legislative changes beyond the original six sections.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 5, 2026

How they voted

39–0

Passed

Total votes 39

Feb 5, 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

Feb 6, 2026

Committee

Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations

upper

Feb 5, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)

upper

Feb 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from Privileges and Elections with substitute (8-Y 6-N)

upper

Feb 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate committee offered

upper

Jan 23, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections

upper

Jan 23, 2026

Introduced

Presented and ordered printed 26105060D

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors