Virginia HB 967: Voting Rights Act of Virginia; revises provisions.

Bill Text

2026 SESSION

INTRODUCED

26101432D

HOUSE BILL NO. 967

Offered January 14, 2026

Prefiled January 13, 2026

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 24.2-125 through 24.2-130 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding sections numbered 24.2-126.1 and 24.2-126.2, relating to elections; Voting Rights Act of Virginia.

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Patrons—Price, Anthony, Carnegie, Carr, Clark, Cole, J.G., Cole, N.T., Convirs-Fowler, Cousins, Franklin, M.A., Gardner, Glass, Guzman, Helmer, Henson, Hope, Keys-Gamarra, LeVere Bolling, Maldonado, Martinez, Nivar, Pope Adams, Rasoul, Schmidt, Shin, Tran and Willett; Senators: Aird, Salim and Srinivasan

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Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections

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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 24.2-125 through 24.2-130 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted and that the Code of Virginia is amended by adding sections numbered 24.2-126.1 and 24.2-126.2 as follows:

§ 24.2-125. Short title; definitions.

A. This chapter may be cited as the "Voting Rights Act of Virginia."

B. For purposes of this chapter,

"protectedProtected class" means a group of citizens protected from discrimination based on race or color or membership in a language minority group.

"Racially polarized voting" means the extent to which the candidate preferences of members of a protected class and other voters in the jurisdiction have diverged in recent elections for the office at issue and other offices in which the voters have been presented with a choice between candidates who are members of the protected class and candidates who are not members of the protected class.

§ 24.2-126. Voter suppression prohibited.

A. No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting or, law, ordinance, rule, standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied enacted or implemented by the state or any locality in a manner that results in, is likely to result in, or is intended to result in a denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen of the United States members of a protected class to vote based on race or color or membership in a language minority group.

B. A violation of subsection A is established if, on the basis of the totality of circumstances, it is shown that the political processes leading to nomination or election in the state or a locality are not equally open to participation by members of a protected class in that its members have less opportunity than other members of the electorate to participate in the political processes or to elect representatives of their choice the challenged qualification, law, ordinance, rule, standard, practice, or procedure results in, is likely to result in, or is intended to result in a material disparity between members of a protected class and other eligible voters in regards to voter participation, access to voting opportunities, or the opportunity or ability to participate in the political process. The extent to which members of a protected class have been elected to office in the state or locality is one circumstance that may be considered.

C. Nothing in this section shall be construed to establish a right to have members of a protected class elected in numbers equal to their proportion in the population.

§ 24.2-126.1. Vote dilution prohibited.

A. The governing body of any locality shall not impose or apply any method of election in a manner that has the effect of impairing the equal opportunity or ability of members of a protected class to nominate or elect candidates of their choice or to influence the outcome of an election as a result of diluting or abridging the vote of members of that protected class.

B. A violation of subsection A is established when it is shown that either (i) local elections exhibit racially polarized voting that disparately impairs the equal opportunity or ability of members of a protected class to nominate or elect candidates of their choice or to influence the outcome of an election or (ii) based on the totality of the circumstances, the equal opportunity or ability of members of a protected class to nominate or elect candidates of their choice or to influence the outcome of an election is impaired.

C. The fact that members of a protected class are not geographically compact or concentrated shall not preclude a finding of racially polarized voting or a violation of subsection A but may be a factor in determining whether an appropriate remedy exists to mitigate the impairment.

D. Where there is evidence that the members of more than one protected class are politically cohesive in the locality, members of each of those protected classes may be combined and the court shall consider only the combined electoral preferences of those protected classes in determining whether racially polarized voting exists in the locality. Evidence that sub-groups within a protected class have different voting patterns shall not be considered.

E. Evidence concerning the cause of, or reason for,