House panel backs primary date change, photo-ID bill

With little discussion, a House committee on Friday advanced emergency legislation that would move the June primary for state congressional races and the U.S. Senate contest to August if a congressional redistricting plan is not approved by next month.

House Bill 736, sponsored by Del. S. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, would automatically move the primary from June 12 to Aug. 21 if the U.S. Department of Justice has not signed off on a congressional redistricting plan by March 20.

The legislation advanced to the House floor from the Privileges and Elections Committee on a 19-1 vote.

Congressional redistricting was supposed to have been completed in 2011, the year after the census, but the legislature failed to do so because of partisan divides.

With Republicans in control of both chambers after November's election, last year's GOP plan recently passed the legislature. It was quickly signed by Gov. Bob McDonnell and is now before the U.S. Justice Department for review.

But pending lawsuits filed on behalf of Virginia voters could nullify the plan and have the courts draw new districts instead. The suits argue that the legislature violated the state's constitution by not completing the process last year.

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli announced Wednesday that he was simultaneously seeking approval of the plan by the Justice Department and by the U.S. District Court in Washington.

Cuccinelli acted rather than wait for decisions by a Richmond Circuit Court judge and by a federal judge in Alexandria on Democratic challenges to the congressional redistricting plan.

Cuccinelli this week also asked the General Assembly to pass the emergency legislation moving the primary date to August. If not, he argued, the primaries scheduled for June might be disrupted if the federal government does not approve the new district lines in time.

The Privileges and Elections Committee also advanced another bill to tighten voting requirements, this one by requiring photo identification at the polls.

House Bill 569, sponsored by Del. Daniel W. Marshall III, R-Danville, would make a series of changes to voting laws, including requiring photo ID and proof of citizenship to register.

The bill would allow for easier sharing of information between the Department of Motor Vehicles, the State Board of Elections and local registrars to make obtaining a photo ID simple, and would permit the board to issue photo ID cards.

A voter who showed up at the polls without photo ID would have to cast a provisional ballot. Marshall's bill would not take effect until next year, meaning it would not impact this year's elections.

A similar but less stringent measure (House Bill 9) passed the House earlier this week, requiring anyone who shows up at the polls without any identification to cast a provisional ballot. That bill did not, however, require photo ID, meaning a voter registration card or Social Security card would suffice.

The House Privileges and Elections Committee sent Marshall's bill, House Bill 569, to the House Appropriations Committee on a 14-6 vote despite objections from Democrats concerned that the measure could prevent the elderly and others from voting.

Many have questioned why the changes are necessary when there is little evidence of voter fraud in the state.

Del. David B. Albo, R-Fairfax, answered that there were only few examples because "there's absolutely no way to catch the people."