2026 SESSION

HOUSE SUBSTITUTE

26108948D

SENATE BILL NO. 658

AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE

(Proposed by the House Committee on Rules

on March 6, 2026)

(Patron Prior to Substitute—Senator Rouse)

A BILL to direct the Department of Elections to convene a work group on the implementation of back-end, opt-out automatic voter registration.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. § 1. The Department of Elections (ELECT) shall convene a work group for the purpose of studying the implementation of back-end, opt-out automatic voter registration (AVR) in the Commonwealth. The work group shall consist of representatives from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, the Office of the Attorney General, members of the House and Senate Committees on Privileges and Elections, general registrars and other local governmental officials, and representatives from organizations advocating for or working on voting rights and data privacy, in addition to any other persons deemed necessary by ELECT.

The focus of the work group shall be the move from Virginia's current front-end, opt-out AVR to back-end, opt-out AVR. The work group shall consider the effectiveness, efficiency, and security of back-end, opt-out AVR as compared to front-end, opt-out AVR and identify the costs and benefits of implementing back-end, opt-out AVR in the Commonwealth. The work group shall identify current obstacles to implementation, including the capacity of current technology infrastructure, and estimate potential upfront and ongoing costs of back-end, opt-out AVR.

ELECT shall submit a report to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Privileges and Elections with its findings by November 1, 2026. Such report shall include recommendations for legislative action, if the work group is making any.