Virginia House of Delegates passes legislation creating ballot drop-off boxes

The House of Delegates passed legislation Friday that would increase the opportunity for Virginians to vote amid the fear of contracting COVID-19 during the current health crisis.

The House of Delegates voted 54-42 to pass legislation that would provide for ballot drop-off boxes at voting locations. Democrats are pushing this legislation because they say it will provide voters with a safe option to drop off their absentee ballot without having to interact with another person and risk contracting COVID-19.

Republicans, however, have been stressing concerns about security of the boxes along with the cost of paying for the postage and boxes. Democrats have repeatedly argued that similar programs already exist in 30 states and that they have yet to see any glaring cases of fraud.

Delegate Kirk Cox (R) was the only delegate to speak out against the bill during the House session on Monday. Cox said that $2 million is a lot of money to Virginians, and he urged the House to vote against the bill.

“We have taken steps today to ensure we protect Virginians’ sacred voting rights from interference – whether from a pandemic or the Postmaster-General,” said House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D) after the bill passed. “There is nothing more vital to our democracy than the right to vote. Virginians deserve to have their voices heard this November.”

The Senate passed a similar bill Friday morning. Since this is an appropriations bill, if the House and Senate cross over the bills and pass the same exact bill, then the legislation would go into place immediately.

* * *

This article first appeared on VirginiaScope.com. It is republished here with permission.