Virginia bills · 2026 Regular Session
Virginia HB 319
Back-end, opt-out automatic voter registration; work group to study implementation.
- Introduced
- In committee
- Passed House
- Passed Senate
- To Governor
- Became law
Sponsors
- Phil M. Hernandez (Democratic)
Cosponsors (2)
- Bonita G. Anthony (Democratic)
- Marcia S. "Cia" Price (Democratic)
Summary
Official abstract published by the Virginia legislature· SUMMARY AS PASSED
Secretary of Administration; work group on automatic voter registration. Directs the Department of Elections to convene a work group for the purpose of studying the implementation of back-end, opt-out automatic voter registration (AVR) in the Commonwealth. The work group shall include representatives of the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, and the Office of the Attorney General, in addition to members of the House and Senate Committees on Privileges and Elections, general registrars, and organizations advocating for or working on voting rights and data privacy. The work group is tasked with considering the effectiveness, efficiency, and security of back-end, opt-out AVR as compared to Virginia's current front-end, opt-out process and identifying the costs and benefits of moving to such a system. The Secretary of Administration is required to submit a report of the work group's findings to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Privileges and Elections by November 1, 2026. This bill is identical to SB 658.
Text versions
- Introduced
- Privileges and Elections Substitute
- Conference Report Substitute
- Conference Report
- Enrolled
- Chaptered
Roll-call votes
State vote data last updated Oct 14, 2026, 12:15 PM.
| Date | Vote | Result | Your legislators |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 13, 2026 House | H VOTE: | pass | Set your home in Virginia to see |
| Mar 13, 2026 Senate | Adopt Conference Committee Report R | pass | Set your home in Virginia to see |
| Mar 6, 2026 Senate | Insist & Request R | pass | Set your home in Virginia to see |
| Mar 4, 2026 House | H VOTE: | fail | Set your home in Virginia to see |
| Mar 2, 2026 Senate | Passage R | pass | Set your home in Virginia to see |
| Feb 26, 2026 Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) | pass | Set your home in Virginia to see |
| Feb 24, 2026 Senate | Reported from Privileges and Elections with substitute | pass | Set your home in Virginia to see |
| Feb 17, 2026 House | H VOTE: | pass | Set your home in Virginia to see |
| Feb 13, 2026 House | Reported from Privileges and Elections | pass | Set your home in Virginia to see |
| Feb 9, 2026 House | Subcommittee recommends reporting | pass | Set your home in Virginia to see |
Actions
- Apr 13, 2026
Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0589) - Apr 13, 2026
Approved by Governor-Chapter 589 (effective 7/1/2026) - Apr 6, 2026 · House
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB319) - Mar 31, 2026
Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 - Mar 31, 2026 · House
Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 - Mar 31, 2026 · House
Signed by Speaker - Mar 30, 2026 · Senate
Signed by President - Mar 30, 2026 · House
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB319ER) - Mar 30, 2026 · House
Enrolled - Mar 16, 2026 · House
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB319) - Mar 13, 2026 · House
Conference report agreed to by House (61-Y 31-N 0-A) - Mar 13, 2026 · Senate
Conference report agreed to by Senate (21-Y 16-N 0-A) - Mar 13, 2026 · Legislature
Conference Report released - Mar 12, 2026 · House
House Conferees: Hernandez, Price, Cherry - Mar 12, 2026 · House
Conferees appointed by House - Mar 10, 2026 · Senate
Senate Conferees: Rouse, Deeds, Williams Graves - Mar 10, 2026 · Senate
Conferees appointed by Senate - Mar 9, 2026 · House
House acceded to request - Mar 6, 2026 · Senate
Senate requested conference committee - Mar 6, 2026 · Senate
Senate insisted on amendments (40-Y 0-N 0-A) - Mar 4, 2026 · House
Senate substitute rejected by House (0-Y 96-N 0-A) - Mar 2, 2026 · Senate
Passed Senate with substitute (21-Y 19-N 0-A) - Mar 2, 2026 · Senate
Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute - Mar 2, 2026 · Senate
Privileges and Elections Substitute agreed to - Mar 2, 2026 · House
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB319) - Feb 27, 2026 · Senate
Passed by for the day - Feb 27, 2026 · Senate
Read third time - Feb 26, 2026 · Senate
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) - Feb 26, 2026 · Senate
Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A) - Feb 26, 2026 · Senate
Rules suspended - Feb 24, 2026 · Senate
Committee substitute printed 26108498D-S1 - Feb 24, 2026 · Senate
Senate committee offered - Feb 24, 2026 · Senate
Senate committee offered - Feb 24, 2026 · Senate
Reported from Privileges and Elections with substitute (8-Y 7-N) - Feb 18, 2026 · Senate
Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections - Feb 18, 2026 · Senate
Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) - Feb 17, 2026 · House
Read third time and passed House (61-Y 35-N 0-A) - Feb 16, 2026 · House
Read second time and engrossed - Feb 15, 2026 · House
Read first time - Feb 13, 2026 · House
Reported from Privileges and Elections (15-Y 6-N) - Feb 9, 2026 · House
Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 2-N) - Feb 6, 2026 · House
Assigned HPE sub: Election Administration - Feb 3, 2026 · House
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB319) - Jan 10, 2026 · House
Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections - Jan 10, 2026 · House
Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101442D