On January 24, the House Elections Subcommittee passed HB 1132, which says that write-in votes are permitted in primaries. Virginia already allows write-ins in general elections. The bill could not become effective in time for this year’s presidential primary.

The bill passed 4-2, on a party-line vote, with all Republicans voting “Yes” and all Democrats voting “No.” The yes votes were by Delegates John A. Cosgrove, S. Chris Jones, John A. Cox, and Margaret Ransone. The no votes were by Delegates Mark Sickles and Rosalyn Dance.

The same committee also passed HB 1133, which lets political parties set their own ballot access rules for presidential primaries, although the rules could not be more difficult than the law on how independent candidates get on the general election ballot. The vote was 3-2 and was not a party-line vote. Voting yes were two Republican Delegates (Cox and Ransone) and one Democratic Delegate (Dance). Voting no were one Republican Delegate (Cosgrove) and one Democratic Delegate (Sickles). Delegate Jones didn’t vote.