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Check out my column on HB1883/HB1888 in today’s @RTDOpinions! The @VAHouseDems and @VASenateDems continue to prioritize our constitutional democracy. As @adamgopnik has noted, “the way to shore up American democracy, is to shore up American democracy.” 1/ https://richmond.com/opinion/columnists/schuyler-vanvalkenburg-column-protecting-democracy-in-virginia/article_71adb316-a75b-59b8-8fc1-cc8fe89d0789.html
HB1883 - preclearance - is a bill I carried last year, modeled on the federal Voting Rights Act. Historically, it is the most effective tool for protecting voting rights. Here is my column from last year on the bill. 2/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/local-opinions/virginia-is-the-birthplace-of-democracy-we-must-protect-our-voting-rights/2020/01/10/5da57dcc-2d94-11ea-bcb3-ac6482c4a92f_story.html
Preclearance is defunct at the federal level b/c of the Supreme Court and Congressional inaction. If the Feds won’t step up. We should. Last year this bill passed both houses on policy grounds before being left out of budget. Let’s get it done this year. 3/ https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB761
HB1888 builds off our work in special session last year and continues on the path of making us a national leader in voter access and election law. It codifies drop boxes, prepaid postage, and a “curing process,” while making other technical changes. 4/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virgina-voting-ballot-drop-boxes/2020/08/28/2a50f55a-e7cf-11ea-97e0-94d2e46e759b_story.html
Changes like these have seen us go from laggard to leader. Whereas we were once of the hardest states to access the vote, now we are one of the easiest. We should stay on the front foot and continue our good work, as John Lewis said, “democracy is not a state, it’s an act.” 5/
It also tries to remedy late night returns (absentee votes not showing up on your tv screens until deep in the night or later) by making technical changes - separating absentee from early in-person, mandating pre-processing of absentee ballots, and more. 6/ https://www.wtvr.com/news/election-2020/why-virginia-election-results-will-be-hours-or-even-days-later-than-normal
To end 
“The right to vote is among the most central to any democratic system. As a civics teacher and a state legislator, it has been a privilege and an honor to help make Virginia a national leader in voting and democracy reform.” 7/ https://richmond.com/opinion/columnists/schuyler-vanvalkenburg-column-protecting-democracy-in-virginia/article_71adb316-a75b-59b8-8fc1-cc8fe89d0789.html
“The right to vote is among the most central to any democratic system. As a civics teacher and a state legislator, it has been a privilege and an honor to help make Virginia a national leader in voting and democracy reform.” 7/ https://richmond.com/opinion/columnists/schuyler-vanvalkenburg-column-protecting-democracy-in-virginia/article_71adb316-a75b-59b8-8fc1-cc8fe89d0789.html
