The Virginia General Assembly convened in Richmond on Wednesday to take up a new session with legislative priorities largely divided along party lines. The issue of voting is no different, with Republicans filing dozens of “election integrity” bills and Democrats staying on the defensive to preserve “voting rights” laws they passed when they fully controlled the legislature.
At the onset of the pandemic, Democrats made major changes to state election procedures, bypassing existing legislation in an effort “to make voting easier,” they said, including allowing 45 days of no-excuse early voting and eliminating a mandatory photo ID.
A joint session of the Virginia Assembly at the Virginia state Capitol in Richmond, Va., on Jan. 8, 2020. (Steve Helber/AP Photo)
Virginia Republicans vehemently opposed the changes, claiming that these changes would open the door to voter fraud. After Republican governor Glenn Youngkin’s victory, however, Democrats doubled down and took the Republican’s win as a sign that there were no flaws in the voting system….