On February 3, the Virginia House passed HB 1132, the bill to allow write-ins in primaries, if the party holding the primary wants write-ins. The vote was 50-49. Republican legislators were more supportive of the bill than Democratic legislators. Republicans supported it by a margin of 38-28. However, Democrats opposed it, with 11 “yes” votes but 21 “no” votes. The lone independent, Delegate Lacey Putney, voted in favor of write-ins.
Now the bill goes to the State Senate, where there are almost as many Democrats as Republicans. Virginia already allows write-ins in general elections, and the State Constitution requires write-in space on general election ballots. One wonders if the legislators who voted “no” on this bill would also like to eliminate write-ins in general elections. The mainstream Virginia press is not covering this bill. I could only find one news story about the bill, and it was written before the bill passed the House.
Full Article: Ballot Access News » Blog Archive » Virginia House Narrowly Passes Bill to Allow Write-ins in Primaries.