Bill Fails to Close Virginia's Primary 11-29

image
Alex GauthierAlex Gauthier
Published: 06 Feb, 2017
2 min read

A bill designed to close Virginia's primary elections failed Monday. SB821 sponsored by Del. John Cosgrove (R-Chesapeake) was voted down in the Senate with 11 voting in favor and 29 opposed. SB821 would have taken away the right of all voters to participate in Virginia's taxpayer funded primary leaving the Democratic and Republican parties to decide who would be able to participate.

SB821 is the latest in an ongoing series of attempts to close primary elections across the country. Efforts to undermine voters’ access to the primary election are underway in multiple states including:

Hawaii, Montana, California, and Idaho. While the defeat of SB821 dampens the likelihood of Virginia politicians closing the state’s primary this session, another bill, SB 902, remains with the Committee on Privileges and Elections.

Senate Bill 902

SB 902, sponsored by Del. Mark Obenshain (R-Rockingham), would set up the conditions to create closed primaries later. The bill would require voters to declare their affiliation or non affiliation with a political party upon registering to vote. Many independent voting rights advocates question the merits of integrating the public process of registering to vote with the private process of joining a political organization. While some states are moving away from requiring party declarations, Virginia could be headed the opposite direction.

The bill summary from SB902 reads:

The bill (i) requires the state party chairman to notify the State Board by January 31 of each year whether the party will close or open its primaries, (ii) requires that primary candidate petitions be signed and witnessed by voters registered as affiliated with the party conducting the primary, (iii) sets the required number of petition signatures at one percent of the number of voters registered as affiliated with the party in the election district where the primary is being held, and (iv) allows an official political party to retain that status as long as at least 15 percent of the Commonwealth's registered voters are registered as affiliated with that party. The provisions of the bill are applicable to primaries conducted after January 1, 2018.

Update 2/7/2017: Senator Obenshain's bill, SB902, was pulled from committee.

Image:  Rob Crandall / Shutterstock.com

You Might Also Like

fl-let-us-vote
Poll Shows Overwhelming Support for Opening Florida’s Primaries to 3.4M Independent Voters
A new statewide poll finds near-unanimous agreement among both Democratic and independent voters that Florida’s primaries should be opened to the state’s 3.4 million “No Party Affiliation” (NPA) voters who are currently shut out of taxpayer-funded elections....
10 Oct, 2025
-
3 min read
broken california map
EXCLUSIVE: California Commissioner Says Lawmakers Gutted Their Funding BEFORE Prop 50
The fate of California’s independently drawn congressional districts will be decided on November 4, when voters weigh in on a legislative gerrymander and the suspension of congressional maps from the state's independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (CRC) under Proposition 50....
08 Oct, 2025
-
8 min read
Proposition 50 voter guide
California Prop 50: Partisan Power Play or Necessary Counterpunch?
November 4 marks a special election for what has become the most controversial ballot measure in California in recent memory: Proposition 50, which would circumvent congressional districts drawn by the state’s independent redistricting commission for a legislative-drawn map....
01 Oct, 2025
-
9 min read