In 1993, Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). The NVRA pioneered a new way to register to vote in America: It required most states to provide citizens with an opportunity to register to vote when applying for or renewing a driver’s license at a department of motor vehicles (DMV) or other designated state agencies. Because of the requirement for DMVs to participate in voter registration, the NVRA is often referred to as “motor voter.” Virginia passed its most recent version of the “motor voter” bill in 2020.  Automatic voter registration removes barriers to registration for eligible voters, a step toward increasing voter participation. Automatic registration can also help with voter registration list maintenance because the process updates existing registrations with current addresses.

27 states offer same-day voter registration. Beginning with the 2022 General Election, the Virginia General Assembly approved legislation allowing eligible voters to register at any time, up to and including Election Day. Voters in Virginia have the ability to register to vote in person and immediately cast a provisional ballot on election day. The general registrar’s office for a voter’s specific locality will research whether a voter is qualified and eligible to vote. They will then forward the ballot and the information gathered to the electoral board to review and approve or deny it. Previously, registration was closed for 21 days (about 3 weeks) before an election; there was no ability to register to vote after this deadline. Studies show that same-day voter registration increases voter turnout

46 states offer in-person early voting The Virginia General Assembly passed legislation in 2020 that permits any registered voter to vote by absentee ballot in person, via mail, or at local drop boxes, in any election in which he or she is qualified to vote.   Virginia also extended the early voting period to 45 days before an election.  The bill removed the previous list of statutory reasons under which a person may be entitled to vote by absentee ballot. The benefits of an expanded early voting period to vote early helps lift barriers for voters and encourages voter turnout.  These changes have greatly impacted the early voting turnout levels with nearly one million Virginians, of both parties,  taking advantage of the process in 2022, compared to around 350K in 2018.

Virginia is one of three states whose constitution disenfranchises citizens with past felony convictions.  While Virginia grants the state’s governor the authority to restore voting rights, Virginia’s disenfranchisement provision dates to the nineteenth century. Advocates have advocated for change  for years, urging Virginia governors to exercise their executive authority to restore voting rights. Efforts in previous legislative sessions to put the issue up to a public referendum to change the Virginia Constitution to automatically restore voting rights have failed. Consequently,  Virginians who have previously been convicted of felonies are still subject to the whims of the Governor.  This issue has received bipartisan support in the past, with Governors from both parties working to restore voting rights. Stripping voting rights from those convicted of felonies has deep roots in the history of discrimination against African Americans in Virginia. For more information, click here.

Ranked Choice Voting is a simple change to the ballot that allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, and then uses those rankings to elect candidates able to combine strong first choice support with the ability to earn second and third choice support. If a candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, he or she is declared the winner. If no candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated. First-preference votes cast for the failed candidate are eliminated, lifting the next-preference choices indicated on those ballots. Ranked-choice voting is used for state primary, congressional, and presidential elections in Alaska and Maine and for local elections in more than 20 US cities.

Virginia is unique in the nation in having no campaign finance limits, nor any restrictions on how candidates can use this money, such as taking a vacation in the Bahamas, organizing fancy lunches with lobbyists, paying for their child’s education, etc. Pennsylvania is the only other state with no restrictions on use of campaign donations, but they do cap limitations, banning contributions to candidates from corporations and unions. In an election year, campaign contributions and campaign spending drastically increases. This increased spending can be ripe for abuse of campaign funds making oversight on campaign spending critical to ensure that those who are signing up for public office are not exploiting these funds to enrich themselves and their families.

Because the Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court in 2010 opened a floodgate of money coming into state elections, including money from foreign entities, Virginia citizens, and all Americans, irrespective of party, feel that full disclosure of funding from independent expenditures entities, ie those monies not directly coordinated with candidate campaigns, needs to be fully disclosed. This includes the actual names of donors who are trying to influence our elections through “dark money groups”. These groups are currently not obliged to reveal their donors.

Polling undertaken by the VA Wason Center in 2021 shows that 88 percent of Virginians, irrespective of party, support full disclosure. The Supreme Court, while opening the door to money from corporations and special interests going into our elections, has consistently voted to support full disclosure, recognizing that it is in the public good.

45 states and the federal government have in place  limits on campaign contributions, including from individuals, corporations, unions, and, in some cases,  public utilities. Virginia is one of five states which has no limits at all. Other states with no limits  include Oregon, Utah, Alabama and Nebraska. This has resulted in:

• An escalation of the cost of Virginia elections, now among the country’s highest. For example, contributions to the gubernatorial race alone in 2021 more than doubled from 2017 to 2021, to almost $150 million, and exceeded the cost of gubernatorial races in California, Florida, and Texas in 2018.
• A marginalization of the voices of average citizens. In Virginia large donations, those exceeding $20,000, account for an estimated two-thirds of all contributions (OpenSecrets), while contributions of $500 or less to candidates-83% of all donors—account for only 8 percent of total contributions.
• Contributions to some state PACs (Political Action Committees) from individuals often exceed $100,000-$200,000, thus allowing large donors to shape policies that affect our everyday lives.

The 10th amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides the basis for each state government’s control over state and local election, including campaign finance. However, over the last half century, Supreme Court rulings have increasingly restricted the ability of Congress and the states to regulate election spending. The Citizens United ruling in 2010 struck down the nearly century long federal prohibitions on independent expenditures by corporations and union, resulting in 22 states revising their campaign finance legislation. This ruling additionally unleashed a flood of spending on elections, often coming in the form of “dark money”, ie undisclosed to the public. Public polling shows that an amendment to the U.S. Constitution which would allow Congress and the states to regain control of election spending is favored by nearly 80 percent of Americans, irrespective of party. To-date 21 states, representing 141 million Americans, have passed state resolutions asking for action.

Virginia’s ethics laws are some of the weakest in the country according to the Coalition for Integrity’s 2019 report on Enforcement of Ethics Rules by State Ethics Agencies. We ranked 46 out of 51 jurisdictions in the Coalition’s 2020 S.W.A.M.P. Index, a comparative scorecard that ranks states based on local laws and regulations governing ethics and transparency to voters. This was also the conclusion of an Integrity and Public Confidence report, commissioned by Governor Terry McAuliffe in 2014, which recognized the importance of ethics enforcement to “ensure that among Virginia public officials no interest comes before the public interest”.

In a 2019 report on Enforcement of Ethics Rules by State Ethics Agencies, Virginia’s ethics agencies could not be graded on their performance because they have no legal authority to enforce ethics laws. Consequently, it is recommended that the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council (the Council)  be empowered with the legal authority to take any enforcement action regarding violations of ethics laws which would include assessing fines, taking personnel actions, or granting injunctions.