Richmond, VA — Today, in a massive victory for Democrats, Senate Democrats on the Privileges and Elections Committee killed a flurry of voter restrictions bills that Governor Youngkin and Republicans attempted to push through under the guise of election integrity. 

Over the last ten years, Virginia went from being one of the hardest states to vote in, to one of the most accessible – yet make no mistake, the right to vote is still under attack in our commonwealth. Virginia Democrats today reiterated their commitment to protecting voting rights and defeated the voting restriction bills in committee – a victory in an effort to keep Virginia’s elections free, fair and secure. 

Virginia Republicans failed to pass voting restrictions that would:

• Remove ballot drop boxes
• Restrict absentee voting periods
• Repeal absentee voting lists
• Require Voter I.D.
• Repeal same-day voter registration

This isn’t the first failed attempt by Republicans to restrict voting rights. Earlier in session, Democrats killed several voting restriction bills including a voter I.D. bill that was introduced by Republican Senator Amanda Chase and supported by Governor Youngkin. 

“Today Virginia Democrats reiterated their commitment to protecting voting rights and were a brick wall to protecting our democratic process here in the commonwealth,” said DPVA Chairwoman Susan Swecker. “In 2020, under the leadership of Virginia Democrats, Virginia became the first southern state to adopt its own voting rights act, which protected and expanded access to the ballot box and strengthened the democracy and integrity of our elections. While Republicans continue to restrict voting rights, Democrats will remain steadfast in their defense of protecting a Virginian's right to participate in their elections.”

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