Voting access bills move forward as Democrats block GOP early voting limits
With the 2026 General Assembly session in full swing, Democrats on Tuesday advanced a slate of voting and campaign finance measures aimed at expanding access to the ballot box and increasing transparency in elections, while narrowly rejecting a series of Republican-backed proposals that would have scaled back early voting and limited when voters could cast ballots in person.
Before dawn, a House Elections Subcommittee on campaign finance unanimously advanced House Bill 44, sponsored by Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax, which would require the State Board of Elections to create a comprehensive, user-friendly online campaign finance portal.
The proposal would mirror many of the functions currently offered by the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonprofit organization that aggregates campaign finance data, election results and political information to make it accessible to the public, journalists and researchers.
Krizek told the panel the bill is designed to modernize how campaign finance information is disclosed and accessed, making it easier for the public to analyze political spending.
https://virginiamercury.com/2026/01/21/voting-access-bills-move-forward-as-democrats-block-gop-early-voting-limits/