Elections administration; duties of local electoral boards, certification of election, etc.
Summary
Elections administration; duties of local electoral boards; certification of election; grounds for removal; civil penalty. Provides that the certification of the results of an election is a clear ministerial duty of the local electoral boards and that a member of the local electoral board who neglects or refuses to perform such duty in accordance with law shall be subject to removal proceedings by the State Board of Elections and assessed a civil penalty not exceeding $1,000. The bill also authorizes the State Board of Elections to intervene and carry out the duties related to election certification in the event a local electoral board fails or refuses to do so.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Dec 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Dec 31, 2025
Signed Apr 6, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons
What changed between versions
Enrolled
→
Chaptered
·
3 edits
MINOR
The bill was finalized and approved, transitioning from a draft 'Enrolled' version to an official 'Chaptered' law. The substantive policy content regarding election administration, training, and certification remains identical to the draft version, with no changes to requirements, penalties, or deadlines. The only modifications are formatting adjustments to the document header and footer to reflect its official status as Chapter 60 of the 2026 Session.
TECHNICAL
The document header was updated to include the official chapter number (Chapter 60) and the specific approval date (April 6, 2026), replacing the generic 'ENROLLED' placeholder text.
Minor formatting adjustments were made to the text layout, such as removing the '1[...]1' amendment markup indicators and adjusting line breaks to match the final printed version.
The 'ENROLLED' status label was removed as the bill is now officially enacted law.
Floor votes · Senate Feb 26, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 3, 2026
How they voted
39–0
Passed
Total votes 39
Feb 26, 2026
D
Democratic20
100% Yea
R
Republican19
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
34
Key actions
14
Committee
8
Amendments
2
Apr 6, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 60 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Mar 6, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 6, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 6, 2026
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB78ER)
lower
Mar 2, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (25-Y 15-N 0-A)
upper
Feb 27, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day
upper
Feb 26, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Feb 24, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Privileges and Elections (8-Y 7-N)
upper
Feb 4, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections
upper
Feb 3, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (92-Y 6-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 2, 2026
Introduced
Engrossed by House as amended
lower
Feb 2, 2026
Lower · Passed
committee amendments agreed to
lower
Jan 30, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Privileges and Elections with amendment(s) (22-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 30, 2026
Lower · Passed
House committee offered
lower
Jan 26, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 2-N)
lower
Jan 26, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 25, 2026
Committee
Assigned HPE sub: Election Administration
lower
Dec 31, 2025
Committee
Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections
lower
1 primary · 5 co-sponsors
Sponsors
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