Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Elections
 
Board
State Board of Elections
 
chapter
Voter Registration [1 VAC 20 ‑ 40]
Chapter is Exempt from Article 2 of the Administrative Process Act
Action Revise Valid Definition
Stage Proposed
Comment Period Ended on 8/4/2014
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7/15/14  2:35 pm
Commenter: Bryan Graham, Citizen

Expiration dates should not be considered when determining the validity of a form of identification.
 

As mentioned by other commenters on this issue, many of the forms of photo identification acceptable by Virginia Code do not have expiration dates (e.g., student and employee ID). The expiration date on presented identification should be ignored, much as the address is ignored on drivers licenses. For those concerned about out of state persons voting with expired identification, Virginia drivers licenses are typically valid for eight years, which provides little evidence that a person still resides in the state. The stated purpose of the photo identification law was to assert the identity of voters prior to being able to cast a vote. Accepting expired identity documents serves this purpose. The Transporation Security Agency, a federal agency in the Department of Homeland Security, will accept expired drivers licenses and passports at airport checkpoints if they are expired within a certain time frame. At the very least, we should give such a grace period to our citizens.  We should make every effort to accomodate the disadvantaged, disabled, and elderly citizens of our Commonwealth to prevent creation and their participation in the Democratic process.

CommentID: 32978