On January 28, the Virginia Senate passed SB 690 by a vote of 23-17. This is the bill that lowers the number of signatures for presidential candidates (both presidential primary candidates, and general election candidates) from 10,000 signatures to 5,000. Republicans overwhelmingly backed the bill, by 17-3. Democrats were mostly opposed; six Democrats voted for the bill but fourteen voted against it.
The six Democrats who voted for the bill were these Senators: Charles Colgan, Creigh Deeds, Adam Ebbin, John Edwards, Ralph Northam, and Phillip Puckett.
The three Republicans who voted against the bill were these Senators: Ryan McDougle, Jeffrey McWaters, and William Stanley. Thanks to Kevin Hayes for this news.
Any particular reason why the bill was supported by the GOP? I would have guessed the opposite considering Virgil Goode is from Virginia and the Republicans were not happy about his presidential campaign.
This year, most of the ballot access improvement bills around the country have Republican sponsors. This is true, or soon will be, in Alabama, Florida, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wyoming. Sometimes these bills have Democratic co-sponsors, however.