CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS.

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); restoration of civil rights for certain felons. Authorizes the General Assembly to provide by general law for the restoration of civil rights for persons convicted of nonviolent felonies who meet the conditions prescribed by law. The present Constitution provides for restoration of rights by the Governor. The amendment retains the right of the Governor to restore civil rights and adds the alternative for restoration of rights pursuant to general law for persons convicted of nonviolent felonies. HJR 635; CH. 958/ SJR 283; CH. 956.

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); succession to the office of Governor. Expands the list of successors to the office of Governor, which presently includes the Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, and Speaker of the House of Delegates, in case of an emergency or enemy attack that prevents the House of Delegates from meeting to elect a governor. The successors would include successor speakers, the President pro tempore of the Senate, and the majority leader of the Senate. The successor would be Acting Governor until the House of Delegates convened to elect a Governor.The amendment also includes authority for the General Assembly, by law, to provide for a waiver of certain eligibility requirements for the Attorney General and Speaker to succeed to the office of Governor in the event of an emergency or enemy attack upon the soil of Virginia. HJR 641; CH. 959.

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); effective dates of decennial redistricting measures; vacancies. Continues the requirement that decennial reapportionment or redistricting measures shall be enacted in the first year after the decennial census (2011, etc.). The proposed amendment spells out that the new lines will be implemented for the first November general election held just prior to the expiration of the term being served in the year of the redistricting. The new language, in effect, continues the existing practice and understanding that there will be regular November elections from new districts in 2011 for the House of Delegates and Senate, in 2012 for the United States House of Representatives, in 2021 for the House of Delegates, in 2022 for the House of Representatives, in 2023 for the Senate, and so forth. The proposed amendment further provides explicitly that the members in office when a decennial reapportionment law is enacted shall complete their terms of office and continue to represent the districts from which they were elected for the duration of those terms of office. Another new provision specifies that any vacancy occurring during such terms will be filled from the preexisting district, i.e., the same district that elected the member whose vacancy is being filled. The proposed amendment continues the present provision that reapportionment laws take effect "immediately" without being subject to the usual requirement for a four-fifths vote in each house of the General Assembly to approve an emergency measure. This exception to the emergency vote requirement remains necessary. There is usually only a short time available to draw new lines after the release of census redistricting data early in the year following the census, and before the nomination and election timetable begins for that year's November election. SJR 417; CH. 957.

2003 Digest Home | Code Commission Home