Virginia Senate passes voter access and criminal justice reform bills

The Virginia Senate convened at 10 a.m. on Friday morning to take up a slate of bills that have already passed through committees and passed several criminal justice reform and voter access bills.

Without any discussion on the floor, the Senators passed a bill from Senator Louise Lucas (D) on Friday morning that will make several offenses secondary instead of primary. Those offenses include the possession of marijuana, a failure to have a working license plate light, having an exhaust system that is too loud, and excessive window tinting.

The bill also provides that no law-enforcement officer may lawfully search or seize any person, place, or thing solely on the basis of the odor of marijuana, and no evidence discovered or obtained as a result of such unlawful search or seizure shall be admissible in any trial, hearing, or another proceeding.

“This passed so quietly, but make no mistake. This is a serious step forward for racial justice in Virginia,” said Andy Elders, a public defender and board member at Justice Forward Virginia. “Black drivers deserve to be left alone, not treated as targets of suspicion.”

The Senate also passed a bill from Senator Scott Surovell (D) that confirms prosecutorial discretion, ensuring that prosecutors have the power to drop charges when they believe appropriate.

“SB 5033 will restore discretion to prosecutors to drop charges and craft deals that incentivize treatment, rehab, and community service in exchange for eventual reduction/dismissal of charges,” said Surovell after the bill passed.

Senators debated SB 5120 on the floor for nearly an hour, eventually passing the legislation that will provide for ballot drop-off boxes at voting locations. The bill sponsored by Senator Janet Howell (D) is intended to provide voters with a safe way for voters to drop off their absentee ballots without interacting with anyone in person during the pandemic.

Republicans, along with Democratic Senator Joe Morrissey, are not fans of the boxes. Republicans stressed the security of the boxes could be at risk, while Democrats responded by saying that 30 states already have such boxes in place and have not reported any glaring cases of voter fraud. ‘

Morrissey told senators that he would vote to support the bill but that he believes the box is an unnecessary expense. He pointed to the several pieces of legislation that the General Assembly passed earlier this year making it easier for people to vote absentee.

In addition to implementing drop off boxes for absentee voters, the bill would provide funding for prepaid postage, and it allows registrars to return absentee ballots with errors to the voter so they can fix the mistakes.

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