HB 967 VA

0likes☆Favorite🔕SubscribeShare

Became Law

Elections; Voting Rights Act of Virginia. Revises provisions of the Voting Rights Act of Virginia (the Act) by (i) clarifying the legal standards for evaluating claims of alleged voter suppression and vote dilution, (ii) providing guidance to the courts to follow when determining whether a violation of the prohibition against voter suppression or vote dilution has occurred, and (iii) outlining the factors that the courts are permitted to consider and those factors that the courts are prohibited from considering. The bill expands the class of persons who may initiate a cause of action for an alleged violation of the Act to include organizations whose membership includes members of a protected class, organizations whose mission would be frustrated by a violation of the Act, and organizations that would expend resources in order to fulfill their mission as a result of a violation of the Act. The population thresholds for a locality to be designated as a covered locality for purposes of minority language accessibility pursuant to the Act are also amended. Current law designates a locality as a covered locality if, in the locality, (a) more than five percent of the voting age population or (b) more than 10,000 of the voting age population are members of a single language minority and are unable to speak or understand English adequately enough to participate in the electoral process; the bill reduces those thresholds from five to three percent and from 10,000 to 5,000. The bill contains technical amendments for organizational purposes.

• Marcia S. "Cia" Price Democratic · primary

1. Jan 13, 2026 Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101432D · lower
2. Jan 13, 2026 Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections · lower
3. Feb 3, 2026 Assigned HPE sub: Voting Rights · lower
4. Feb 6, 2026 Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 2-N) · lower
5. Feb 6, 2026 Reported from Privileges and Elections (15-Y 7-N) · lower
6. Feb 10, 2026 Read first time · lower
7. Feb 11, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB967) · lower
8. Feb 11, 2026 Read second time and engrossed · lower
9. Feb 12, 2026 Read third time and passed House (63-Y 35-N 0-A) · lower
10. Feb 13, 2026 Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) · upper
11. Feb 13, 2026 Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections · upper
12. Feb 24, 2026 Senate committee offered · upper
13. Feb 24, 2026 Reported from Privileges and Elections with amendments and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (8-Y 7-N) · upper
14. Mar 3, 2026 Reported from Finance and Appropriations (10-Y 5-N) · upper
15. Mar 3, 2026 Rules suspended · upper
16. Mar 3, 2026 Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A) · upper
17. Mar 3, 2026 Passed by for the day (Voice Vote) · upper
18. Mar 4, 2026 Read third time · upper
19. Mar 4, 2026 Committee amendments agreed to · upper
20. Mar 4, 2026 Engrossed by Senate as amended · upper
21. Mar 4, 2026 Passed Senate with amendments (21-Y 18-N 0-A) · upper
22. Mar 6, 2026 Senate amendments agreed to by House (62-Y 35-N 0-A) · lower
23. Mar 13, 2026 Enrolled · lower
24. Mar 13, 2026 Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB967ER) · lower
25. Mar 13, 2026 Signed by Speaker · lower
26. Mar 13, 2026 Signed by President · upper
27. Mar 14, 2026 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 14, 2026 · lower
28. Mar 14, 2026 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 · executive
29. Mar 16, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB967) · lower
30. Apr 13, 2026 Approved by Governor-Chapter 717 (effective 7/1/2026) · executive

The published texts of this bill as it moves through the legislature. Each links to the official document on the state legislature site. Data from OpenStates.

• Enrolled · PDF
• Enrolled · HTML
• Senate Amendments · HTML
• Privileges and Elections Amendment · HTML
• Privileges and Elections Amendment · HTML
• Introduced · PDF
• Introduced · HTML