Virginia Delegate David Reid (D-Loudoun) filed a bill earlier this month that would include privately-created identification cards as permissible forms of voter identification.
Reid (pictured above) filed HB 26 on December 18 to amend existing Virginia law regarding voter identification to allow “any valid identification card containing a photograph of the voter and issued by any private entity that is licensed or certified, in whole or in part, by the Department of Health, Department of Social Services, Department of Medical Assistance Services, or Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.”
Virginia law already specifically allows voters a number of methods to verify their identity while voting. These include showing a driver’s license, a valid United States passport, a student identification, a valid employee identification card with a photo, or even “a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document containing the name and address of the voter.” Additionally, Virginia election workers do not consider whether a driver’s license has expired when determining a voter’s identity.
Any voter who is unable to provide any accepted form of identification is then “allowed to vote after signing a statement, subject to felony penalties for false statements,” attesting “he is the named registered voter he claims to be.”
Reid, who is now running for U.S. Congress in Virginia’s 10th Congressional district, previously celebrated a win over Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) in 2022, when the Senate refused the governor’s requested amendments to Reid’s bill to facilitate a staggered election cycle for various seats on the controversial Loudoun County School Board.
That school board later faced calls for its resignation after a grand jury report found the district “dropped the ball” on student safety by failing to alert the community to multiple sexual assaults that took place in the district. A parent was arrested at a school board event after he stated that his daughter was sexually assaulted by a transgender student in Loudoun County schools.
Earlier this year, Virginia withdrew its membership from the controversial Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a nonprofit that works with multiple states to keep voter rolls updated. Virginia Department of Elections Commissioner Susan J. Beals reportedly wrote in a letter to the group’s executive director that “ERIC has increasingly engaged in efforts outside of list maintenance and has elevated the voice of a partisan non-voting board member.”
Ultimately, Beals wrote that “Virginia’s return on investment in ERIC was decreasing,” making the continued relationship untenable.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Del. David Reid” by Del. David Reid.
