The League of Women Voters supports HB212. The bill improves the process for protecting all the people who run Virginia’s elections from intimidation, bribery, coercion or threats. Basically, the bill acknowledges how hard it is to prove that someone willfully committed one of the crimes enumerated in the statute. A prosecutor would still need to prove intent, which is difficult enough, without also proving what was going on inside that person’s head. We staunchly support our election officials and ask that you report the bill.

The League of Women Voters supports HB212. The bill improves the process for protecting all the people who run Virginia’s elections from intimidation, bribery, coercion or threats. Basically, the bill acknowledges how hard it is to prove that someone willfully committed one of the crimes enumerated in the statute. A prosecutor would still need to prove intent, which is difficult enough, without also proving what was going on inside that person’s head. We staunchly support our election officials and ask that you report the bill.

My name is Rachel Orey, and I am Director of the Elections Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a non-profit organization that combines the best ideas from both parties to promote health, security, and opportunity for all Americans. Working in collaboration with current and former election officials, BPC’s Elections Project researches and advocates for pragmatic policy solutions to the most pressing challenges in election administration. Foremost among these challenges is a well-documented rise in threats and intimidation aimed at election officials, the individuals who work day-in and day-out to ensure that our elections are free, fair, and secure. Our research on election officials across the country reveals a workforce under increasing strain, but these strains are not altogether new. For years, the task of administering elections has steadily grown more complex, yet staffing and funding levels have not kept pace. This has led to gradually increasing rates of turnover in the election workforce over the past two decades. Between 2004 and 2020, the share of chief election officials vacating their positions grew by an average of 1.6 percentage points every four years. What is new, however, is the accelerated pace of this turnover. Already overburdened and underpaid, election officials now confront an increasingly hostile environment of physical and psychological threats, intimidation, and harassment. According to a 2024 survey of local election officials, 48% report “personally know[ing] any local election officials or election workers who have left their jobs at least in part because of fear for their safety, increased threats, or intimidation,” up from 31% of those surveyed in 2023. It should come as no surprise to find, as my coauthors and I did, a corresponding surge in turnover among election officials. As we detail in a recent report, “2024 saw the highest recorded rate of turnover in at least the past quarter century: 41% of election officials administering the presidential election were different from those who ran the presidential election four years prior.” Elections do not run by themselves; they require the experience, expertise, and hard work of well-trained professionals. Accordingly, the continued depletion of institutional knowledge among the workforce poses risks for the system of elections that sustains American democracy. It jeopardizes both the smooth operation of future elections and the public’s confidence in their outcomes. Though the pressures facing the election workforce are complex and no one measure can be alleviate them entirely, protecting election workers and ensuring they feel safe and secure in their jobs is foundational for future progress.

The NAACP VA State Conference supports HB835 and HB 212

I support all legislation to remove big money from all election campaigns. I ask that you serve us, the people, not just those with wealth or corporate power. All the people.

The League of Women Voters urges you to report HB212. The bill improves the process for protecting all the people who run Virginia’s elections from intimidation, bribery, coercion or threats. Basically, the bill acknowledges how hard it is to prove that someone WILLFULLY committed one of the crimes enumerated in the statute. A prosecutor would still need to prove intent, which is difficult enough, without also proving what was going on inside that person’s head. We staunchly support our election officials and ask that you report the bill. The League of Women Voters strongly supports legislation that controls misleading political speech, however formatted. Beyond disguising its sponsors, altered media content sends messages that often deviates sharply from the original meaning and intent. In the current media environment, content can “go viral” in seconds, which increases the risk of spreading misleading or flat-out wrong information. A well-informed electorate is essential to a healthy democracy but it must be an accurately-informed electorate. Knowing that content has been altered or manipulated is essential to informed and thoughtful decisions. The League of Women Voters strongly supports HB868 and HB982. The League opposes HB 1056. It is a strength of current Virginia voting law that voters do NOT register by political party, which allows any registered voter to vote in either primary. Open primaries invite independents, who are a majority of all voters, to participate and have been shown to increase voter engagement and turnout. Yes, spoiler voters might affect an outcome but that is both uncommon and could affect both parties equally. Also, the bill suggests that the political parties could write rules controlling who votes in a state-run primary election, which is a disturbing prospect in a democracy.

SUPPORT HB212 - Election workers should be able to focus on the electoral process, not worry about disruptions or safety. Intimidation has no place in this process. I support HB212.

I am opposed to any all bill that make it easier to cheat in elections like these bills being presented. I am opposed to any and all bills that make same sex marriage acceptable. I am opposed to any and all bills that allow full term abortion and allow minors to have abortions with out the parents knowledge. I am opposed to any and all bills that would allow minors to undergo transgender surgery . I am opposed to any and all bills that will raise taxes while the politicians are trying to give themselves a 150% increase no that is not acceptable.

I strongly support this bill. Our election officials deserve to serve in an environment free of threats and intimidation.

I stand against abortion in this state and any abilities for election fraud!

My husband and I are extremely concerned about proposed abortion bills and legislation. We have lived in this state for many years and never dreamed of these bills moving forward and are aghast at the thought of it. We are vehemently opposed to any such passage of abortion and whole heartedly in favor of preserving and protecting all life espeically of the most vulnerable unborn life that all science now admits. Please say "no" to such bills.