Oppose HB9 Voting procedures; voter identification requirements, provisional ballots. (Cole)

(OPPOSE) Elections; voting procedures; voter identification requirements; provisional ballots.  Provides that a voter who is voting at the polls or voting absentee in person and who is unable to present one of the enumerated forms of identification may sign a sworn statement that he is the named registered voter he claims to be and then be allowed to vote a provisional ballot. Present law allows such a voter to vote an official rather than provisional ballot after signing the sworn statement.  The bill further provides that a voter will vote a provisional ballot if his name on the pollbook is marked as already having voted.  The bill also provides for procedures to process the provisional ballots including permission for the electoral board or its designee to compare the voter's signature on the provisional ballot envelope with his signature in his voter file.  

(Passed House; Passed Senate with substitute- Senate requested Conference Committee)

Oppose HJ49 governor's Executive Reorganization Plan; approval by each house of General Assembly.(Gilbert)

(OPPOSE) Governor's Executive Reorganization Plan.  Sets out the Governor's executive reorganization plan dated November 25, 2011, for approval by each house of the General Assembly and subject to the enactment of a bill by the 2012 Session of the General Assembly. The resolution sets out the pertinent details of the plan.

(Passed House; Senate requests conference committee Delegates: Gilbert, Jones, James, Senators: Vogel, Martin, Black, McDougle.)

Oppose SB1 - Voter identification requirements; provisional ballots.(Martin)

(OPPOSE) Voter identification requirements; provisional ballots.  Eliminates the provision that allows a voter to sign a sworn statement that he is the named registered voter he claims to be in lieu of showing identification and provides instead for the voter to cast a provisional ballot if he cannot provide a required form of identification. The bill also provides that, in order to determine whether a person who cast a provisional ballot is a qualified voter, an electoral board may rely on a faxed copy of a person's identification. The bill also removes a Commonwealth of Virginia voter registration card from the list of forms of identification that a voter can present to demonstrate that he is a qualified voter.

(Passed Senate: House Floor) Talking Points