Elections; candidates for office, challenges to candidate qualifications.
Summary
Elections; candidates for office; challenges to candidate qualifications. Requires any legal action relating to a person's eligibility to appear on the ballot on the basis that such person did not meet all qualifications or fulfill all requirements for candidacy to be filed in a circuit court and served on all parties at least (i) 90 days before the date of a general election, (ii) 65 days before the date of a primary election, (iii) 70 days before the date of a special election held on the same date as the general election, or (iv) for any special election held at a time other than a general election (a) at least 55 days before the date of the special election or (b) within 10 days of any writ of election or order calling a special election to be held less than 60 days after the issuance of the writ or order. The bill specifies that any such legal action will be given precedence on the docket and be decided by the court no later than 10 days before the date on which ballots for that election are made available for absentee voting. The bill also specifies that candidates who are nominated at a primary election cannot be later challenged on the basis of facts that were present prior to the primary election and could have been raised in a challenge to such candidate's eligibility for the primary ballot.
Bill status
vetoed
4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2025
Senate Passage
Mar 2025
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2025
Vetoed
May 2025
Introduced Jan 6, 2025
Vetoed May 2, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons
What changed between versions
Governor Substitute Not Adopted
→
Enrolled
·
4 edits
·
Mar 10, 2025
MODERATE
The bill was finalized as an enrolled act, changing its status from a proposed governor's substitute to law. It adds new deadlines for filing challenges to candidate qualifications and introduces a rule preventing challenges based on facts that existed before the primary election.
Scope change
The bill's scope expanded from a general framework for challenges to include specific filing deadlines and a new exemption for primary election candidates regarding pre-existing issues.
TIMELINE
New specific deadlines were added for filing legal challenges, requiring them at least 90 days before a general election or 65 days before a primary election, with shorter windows for special elections.
A strict timeline was added requiring circuit courts to decide eligibility challenges no later than 10 days before absentee ballots are made available.
ELIGIBILITY
A new provision prevents challenges to a candidate's qualifications based on facts that were already present before the primary election and could have been raised earlier.
REQUIREMENT
The requirement for serving legal notices was modified to include the new specific filing deadlines for different types of elections.
Floor votes · Senate Jan 31, 2025 · House of Delegates Feb 19, 2025
How they voted
40–0
Passed
Total votes 40
Jan 31, 2025
D
Democratic21
100% Yea
R
Republican19
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
41
Key actions
13
Committee
6
Amendments
3
May 2, 2025
Vetoed
Vetoed by Governor
executive
Apr 2, 2025
Vetoed
Senate rejected Governor's recommendation (17-Y 23-N)
upper
Mar 24, 2025
Vetoed
Governor's recommendation received by Senate
executive
Mar 10, 2025
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 7, 2025
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 7, 2025
Upper · Passed
Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB940ER)
upper
Feb 20, 2025
Upper · Passed
House Amendment agreed to by Senate (39-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 19, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed House with amendment (94-Y 2-N)
lower
Feb 19, 2025
Introduced
Engrossed by House as amended
lower
Feb 19, 2025
Lower · Passed
Privileges and Elections Amendment agreed to
lower
Feb 14, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported from Privileges and Elections with amendment(s) (20-Y 2-N)
lower
Feb 10, 2025
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (8-Y 0-N)
lower
Feb 9, 2025
Committee
Assigned PE sub: Election Administration
lower
Feb 6, 2025
Committee
Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections
lower
Jan 31, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N)
upper
Jan 31, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed by temporarily
upper
Jan 30, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day
upper
Jan 28, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported from Privileges and Elections with substitute (15-Y 0-N)
upper
Jan 6, 2025
Committee
Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Scott Surovell
DDemocratic
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