Responsive Gov’s Grade TL;DR

Once again, the Virginia General Assembly passed several pro-voter changes to the state’s election laws, including extending the voter registration deadline for mail and online applications and taking steps to reform Virginia’s felon disenfranchisement laws. However, once again, Governor Youngkin stepped in to veto other significant changes passed by the Assembly. Therefore, Virginia received a B+ on this year’s progress report.

Looking Back

Where Virginia Started at the Beginning of 2025

• Automatic Voter Registration: Partial AVR
• Online Voter Registration: DMV ID
• Same-Day Registration: Yes
• Restoration of Rights: Some Permanent Disenfranchisement
• Vote by Mail: No-Excuse
• Electronic Registration Information Center Member: No
• Early Voting Opportunities: In-person Absentee
• ID Requirements: ID Requested, but not Required

Relying on the Cost of Voting Index for Virginia as of 2024, we considered the state a top tier state for pre-existing voting policy and compared its 2025 activity against other top tier states.

How Our Tier Compares

• COVI (2024): 15th
• EPI Score (2022): 10th

2025: This Past Year

Legislative Action

During the 2025 session, the Virginia General Assembly continued to pass legislation to remove barriers to voting.

• SB 991 / HB 1735 extends the general voter registration deadline for mail and online applications to 10 days before an election from the existing 21 days. Additionally, voters may still continue to utilize same-day registration.
• SJ 248 / HJ 2 is a proposed constitutional amendment that would automatically restore an individual’s voting rights upon release from incarceration on a felony conviction. The legislation will need to pass again next session before it would go to the ballot for voters to approve in November 2026.
• SJ 253 / HJ 443 establishes a joint subcommittee to study aligning the state and federal elections on-cycle.
• SB 1044 requires local clerks to report mail ballot results “promptly” and no later than 10 days post-election. Clerks must also report information on the number of provisional ballots cast and counted by precinct.

Executive Action

• HB 2668 would have changed the criteria and process for removing a local election official for failure to do their job.
• HB 2277 would have made it a mandatory duty for members of an election board to certify an election.
• HB 2276 would have set strict data matching criteria to be met for potential voter registration cancellations, among other things.
• HB 2056 would have allowed local governing bodies of counties and cities to set the dates and hours for any early voting satellite offices so long as they met the minimum requirements set by state law.
• HB 1794 / SB 1119 would have required all primaries for offices to be filled at the November election in presidential election years to be held on the date of the presidential primary.
• HB 1657 / SB 813 would have required any systematic voter purges to be completed no less than 90 days before an election.
• SB 775 / HB 2479 regulates the use of AI in elections.
• SB 760 would have extended the deadline to return mail ballots, to cure ballots, and to provide ID for a provisional ballot to 5pm on the third day after the election.