Privileges and Elections

Elections; candidates for office; challenges to candidate qualifications. Requires any legal action relating to a person's eligibility to appear on the ballot on the basis that such person did not meet all qualifications or fulfill all requirements for candidacy to be filed in a circuit court and served on all parties (i) at least 90 days before the date of a general election; (ii) at least 65 days before the date of a primary election; (iii) at least 70 days before the date of a special election held on the same date as the general election; or (iv) for any special election held at a time other than a general election, (a) at least 55 days before the date of the special election or (b) within 10 days of any writ of election or order calling for a special election to be held less than 60 days after the issuance of the writ or order. The bill specifies that any such legal action will be given precedence on the docket and be decided by the circuit court no later than 10 days before the date on which ballots for that election are made available for absentee voting. The bill also specifies that candidates who are nominated at a primary election cannot be later challenged on the basis of facts that were present prior to the primary election and could have been raised in a challenge to such candidate's eligibility for the primary ballot.

Presidential electors; National Popular Vote Compact. Enters Virginia into an interstate compact known as the Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote. Article II of the Constitution of the United States gives the states exclusive and plenary authority to decide the manner of awarding their electoral votes. Under the compact, Virginia agrees to award its electoral votes to the presidential ticket that receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The compact goes into effect when states cumulatively possessing a majority of the electoral votes have joined the compact. A state may withdraw from the compact; however, a withdrawal occurring within six months of the end of a President's term shall not become effective until a President or Vice President has qualified to serve the next term. The bill also provides for the manner of appointing electors when such agreement does and does not govern the appointment of electors. This bill is identical to HB 965.

Constitutional amendment (voter referendum); marriage between two adult persons; repeal of same-sex marriage prohibition. Provides for a referendum at the November 3, 2026, general election to approve or reject an amendment that requires the equal treatment under the law of a lawful marriage between two adult persons regardless of the sex, gender, or race of such persons. The amendment also repeals the current provision that defines marriage as only a union between one man and one woman. This bill is identical to HB 612.

Elections; primary election; when filings to be made; extension for incumbents failure to file. Provides that if an incumbent office holder fails to file the necessary paperwork to qualify to be on the ballot for a primary election for the office he holds by the deadline for filing such paperwork, then the deadline for such paperwork is extended by five days for any filer other than the incumbent. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.

Elections; absentee and provisional ballots; process and timing for rejected absentee ballot applications, returned absentee ballots, and rejected provisional ballots. Requires the general registrar to promptly notify a voter by telephone or email of an error or omission on the provisional ballot form and to provide information to the voter on how to correct the issue so his ballot may be counted if the electoral board determines that such voter who submitted a provisional vote was not entitled to vote as a result of a material error or omission on the provisional ballot form. The voter is entitled to make such necessary corrections before noon on the Monday after the election. The bill also requires the list of absentee ballot applicants to be updated daily and to include whether each application has been accepted or rejected and, if it has been rejected, the reason for rejection or, if it has been accepted, the status of the absentee ballot. Registrars are also required to enter such information into the voter registration system, and such information is required to be made available to voters via a free-access system made available by the Department of Elections. The bill removes the requirement that absentee ballots be received by the Friday immediately preceding the day of the election for the general registrar to implement the process of curing errors or failures in such absentee ballots. The bill also moves the deadline for curing errors or omissions in absentee ballot applications from noon on the third day after the election to noon on the Monday after the election. Finally, the bill requires the Department to issue guidance to local election officials on the uniform processing and counting of provisional ballots. The bill has a delayed effective date of September 1, 2026.