OPPOSITION TO VOUCHERS & TUITION TAX CREDITS OR ANY DIVERSION OF PUBLIC FUNDS FOR PRIVATE USE
We OPPOSE HB293 (Freitas), HB294 (Freitas & Cherry), HB333 (Freitas), HB344 (Davis), HB784 (LaRock),HB788 (LaRock), HB982 (P. Scott), HB1024 (LaRock), HB1025 (LaRock), SB125 (Obenshain), SB608 (Suetterlein), SB709 (DeSteph)
Traditional school vouchers and Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) are mechanisms to send public dollars to families who choose to forgo public K-12 education and pursue private or home schooling.
RESTORATION OF RETURNING CITIZENS VOTING ACCESS
We SUPPORT Referendum SB21 (Locke) & HB130 (Cherry), HB416 (Herring)
Last year the General Assembly session, took the first step toward passage of a constitutional amendment to restore voting access for all citizens in Virginia, aged 18 and over, who are not currently serving time for a felony conviction. Now is the time to move that amendment to the ballot. The people of Virginia deserve the chance to vote.
Why do we need it?
Approximately 250,000 people don’t have access to the ballot. 21 states already support the restoration of voting access in line with this Virginia-proposed Constitutional Amendment. Three states allow felons to vote while in prison. See: National Conference of State Legislatures felon voting rights.
These returning citizens pay taxes, are contributing members of society, and could be your neighbor. They have completed their sentence, have been held accountable for their crime, have been deemed to not be a threat to public safety—and yet been banned from voting for the rest of their lives. It's double jeopardy to punish people for crimes for which they have already paid their debt.
The ability to vote is a critical part of reintegration into civic life for returning citizens and empowers them to be productive and active members of their communities. Evidence demonstrates a decrease in recidivism when returning citizens have their voting access restored.
It's time we amend the Virginia constitution to ensure that once a person has served their time, they have a path to have their voting access restored regardless of who the sitting Governor is.
PERMANENT REMOVAL OF THE WITNESS REQUIREMENT FOR ABSENTEE BALLOTS
We SUPPORT HB177 (Bloxom) and SB273 (Ebbin)
We OPPOSE HB149 (Runion)
Voters who live alone, who are medically compromised, or who are disabled, are more likely to have difficulty finding people to witness their ballots.
Witness signatures do not improve the security of the ballot but make it more difficult to cast a secret ballot.
Abundant safeguards are already in place for voting by mail ballots:
• The voter must be registered and must apply for a ballot on a form that requires at least the last four digits of the voter's SSN, the voter's address, and the voter's signed statement.
• The registrar, after checking and accepting the application, mails the ballot to the voter's address in the voter registration database. An intelligent mail barcode associated with the voter tracks the ballot from the registrar’s office to the voter and back.
• The voter returns the completed ballot with a signed statement that includes the voter's home address.
• The voter is recorded in the election database, so neither the voter nor anyone else, can cast another ballot in the voter’s name.
• The voter signs a statement acknowledging penalties for fraud when they register to vote, apply for an absentee ballot, and return the ballot by mail or drop box.
The process to vote by mail should be no more burdensome than voting early in person.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM/DARK MONEY: HONEST ADS
HJ 526 (Delegate Bulova) Subcommittee’s report should be finalized and made public.
Details provided by Denise Harrington, State Advocacy Chair
