Virginia legislation · 2026 Regular Session
Virginia SB658: An Act to direct the Secretary of Administration to convene a work group on the implementation of back-end, opt-out automatic voter registration; report.
Status: Chaptered, April 13, 2026
Secretary of Administration; work group on automatic voter registration. Directs the Department of Elections to convene a work group for the purpose of studying the implementation of back-end, opt-out automatic voter registration (AVR) in the Commonwealth. The work group shall include representatives of the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, and the Office of the Attorney General, in addition to members of the House and Senate Committees on Privileges and Elections, general registrars, and organizations advocating for or working on voting rights and data privacy. The work group is tasked with considering the effectiveness, efficiency, and security of back-end, opt-out AVR as compared to Virginia's current front-end, opt-out process and identifying the costs and benefits of moving to such a system. The Secretary of Administration is required to submit a report of the work group's findings to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Privileges and Elections by November 1, 2026. This bill is identical to HB 319.
What the bill says
An Act to direct the Secretary of Administration to convene a work group on the implementation of back-end, opt-out automatic voter registration; report. [S 658] Approved April 13, 2026 1. § 1. The Secretary of Administration (the Secretary) shall convene a work group for the purpose of studying the implementation of back-end, opt-out automatic voter registration (AVR) in the Commonwealth. The work group shall consist of representatives from the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, and the Office of the Attorney General, members of the House and Senate Co.
From the enrolled text, April 13, 2026:
An Act to direct the Secretary of Administration to convene a work group on the implementation of back-end, opt-out automatic voter registration; report. [S 658] Approved April 13, 2026 1. § 1. The Secretary of Administration (the Secretary) shall convene a work group for the purpose of studying the implementation of back-end, opt-out automatic voter registration (AVR) in the Commonwealth. The work group shall consist of representatives from the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, and the Office of the Attorney General, members of the House and Senate Committees on Privileges and Elections, general registrars and other local governmental officials, and representatives from organizations advocating for or working on voting rights and data privacy, in addition to any other persons deemed necessary by the Secretary. The focus of the work group shall be the move from the Commonwealth's current front-end, opt-out AVR to back-end, opt-out AVR. The work group shall consider the effectiveness, efficiency, and security of back-end, opt-out AVR as compared to front-end, opt-out AVR and identify the costs and benefits of implementing back-end, opt-out AVR in the Commonwealth. The work group shall identify current obstacles to implementation, including the capacity of current technology infrastructure, and estimate potential upfront and ongoing costs of back-end, opt-out AVR. The Secretary shall submit a report to the Chairs of …