CHAPTER 516
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 555
Proposing an amendment to Section 1 of Article II of the Constitution of Virginia, relating to qualifications of voters and the right to vote; persons not entitled to vote.
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 27, 2021
Agreed to by the Senate, February 27, 2021
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, a majority of the members elected to each house agreeing, That the following amendment to the Constitution of Virginia be, and the same hereby is, proposed and referred to the General Assembly at its first regular session held after the next general election of members of the House of Delegates for its concurrence in conformity with the provisions of Section 1 of Article XII of the Constitution of Virginia, namely:
Amend Section 1 of Article II of the Constitution of Virginia as follows:
ARTICLE II
FRANCHISE AND OFFICERS
Section 1. Qualifications of voters.
(a) In elections by the people, the qualifications of
voters shall be as follows: Each voter shall be a citizen of the United States,
shall be eighteen years of age, shall fulfill the residence requirements set
forth in this section subsection (b), and shall be registered to
vote pursuant to this article. Every person who meets these qualifications
shall have the fundamental right to vote in the Commonwealth, and such right
shall not be abridged by law, except that:
(1) No person who has been convicted of a felony shall
be qualified entitled to vote unless his civil rights have
been restored by the Governor or other appropriate authority. during any
period of incarceration for such felony conviction, but every such person, upon
release from incarceration for that felony conviction and without further
action required of him, shall be invested with all political rights, including
the right to vote; and
As prescribed by law, no (2) No person who
has been adjudicated to be mentally incompetent by a court of
competent jurisdiction to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting
shall be qualified entitled to vote during such period of
incapacity until his competency capacity has been reestablished
as prescribed by law.
(b) The residence requirements shall be that each voter shall be a resident of the Commonwealth and of the precinct where he votes. Residence, for all purposes of qualification to vote, requires both domicile and a place of abode. The General Assembly may provide for persons who are employed overseas, and their spouses and dependents residing with them, and who are qualified to vote except for relinquishing their place of abode in the Commonwealth while overseas, to vote in the Commonwealth subject to conditions and time limits defined by law. The General Assembly may provide for persons who are qualified to vote except for having moved their residence from one precinct to another within the Commonwealth to continue to vote in a former precinct subject to conditions and time limits defined by law. The General Assembly may also provide, in elections for President and Vice President of the United States, alternatives to registration for new residents of the Commonwealth.
(c) Any person who will be qualified with respect to age to vote at the next general election shall be permitted to register in advance and also to vote in any intervening primary or special election.