The Virginia Senate recently passed a bill for the third time that would allow any qualified voter in Virginia to vote absentee in-person without providing a reason.
Currently, eligibility for voting through absentee ballots is reserved for individuals who are disabled, in the military or in other circumstances that would prevent them from physically engaging in the voting process on the day of elections. Bill SB83 hopes to increase voter turnout by expanding the absentee voting process to anyone who is qualified to vote.
"The bill will allow anybody to vote in person by absentee ballot without an excuse," said Michael Kelly, communications director for the Virginia Central Democratic Caucus.
There seems to be a "desire" for voting reform, he said, because more than 300,000 people cast an in-person absentee ballot during the 2008 election.
"This is a measure to make the voting process simpler and easier for folks and kind of simplify the absentee process," he said.
The bill could also help eliminate one source of voter apathy, Kelly said.
"If something unexpected comes up and you can't make it to the poll, this shouldn't be a reason you are not able to vote," he said. Kelly added that because the polls are only open for a certain number of hours, it is more difficult for some people to cast their ballot.
Before making it to Gov. Bob McDonnell, the bill must pass through the Virginia House of Delegates, which has rejected it both times it came to hearing in the past, mostly because of a strong Republican opposition to it.
The commonwealth's Republican leaders are seeking stricter absentee ballot rules, citing concerns about voter fraud, said Isaac Wood, assistant communications director at the University Center for Politics and a former Cavalier Daily opinion columnist.
Republicans "know that if you are not willing to show up and vote in person, then perhaps you don't have the dedication to fully research the issues that we should ask for in our voters," he said.\nWood said the House of Delegates likely will reject the bill again.
"It ... shows the tension [between conservatives and] some of the more progressive Virginians who are advocating for this change," he noted.
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