In the days leading up to tomorrow's reconvened session of the 2009 General Assembly, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine made no secret of his vetoes of bills that would expand the death penalty and permit concealed weapons in bars.
Kaine even held a news conference to announce amendments to bills that would make Virginia eligible to receive millions of additional federal stimulus dollars to fund increased unemployment compensation and health insurance.
But with nary a mention, the governor also quietly tucked one of his favorite -- but failed -- legislative priorities into the thick volumes of amendments for lawmakers to consider:
No-excuse absentee voting.
The amendment would allow any registered voter to cast an in-person, absentee ballot at the local registrar's office up to 45 days before an election. Currently voters must meet one of 17 criteria to qualify to vote absentee.
During the regular session, Kaine's no-excuse voting legislation was killed in sub-committee by the Republican-controlled House of Delegates. State lawmakers, however did pass two bills that allowed early voting for police officers, firefighters and emergency responders.
Kaine signed one of the bills and rewrote the other to include no-excuse voting.
"We thought, let's give it another try," Kaine said today. "That's a bill that traditionally dies a quiet death early in the morning in a committee, and it would be nice to have it at least be exposed to the light of day, to have a recorded vote with everybody paying attention to it."
"This is a way to empower citizens and make it easier on them to participate," Kaine continued. "If you want people to participate in elections, I think this is a no-brainer."
Lawmakers on Wednesday can kill the amendment with a simple majority vote. But they may be doing so at their own peril. Nearly one in 10 Virginians cast absentee ballots last fall, a record officials attribute to interest in the presidential election.
Kaine said a defeat of no-excuse voting could give Democrats a potentially potent argument in an election year.
All 100 seats in the House of Delegates, are up for election this fall.
"Depending on the area," said Kaine, "I think somebody certainly could certainly make something out of it."
Contact Jim Nolan at (804) 649-6061 or jnolan@timesdispatch.com.
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