Expands use of the federal SAVE Program by the Department of Elections to identify and remove noncitizens from voter rolls, and requires more state agencies including those issuing concealed handgun permits to collect and share citizenship data with election officials for voter list maintenance.
The Department shall apply to participate in the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements Program (SAVE Program) operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the purposes of verifying that voters listed in the Virginia voter registration system are United States citizens.
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FirearmsotherAI label
=No change to gun accessmodel confidence 80%
Requires citizenship questions and potential voter registration on concealed handgun permit applications (with penalties for false statements), but does not change eligibility, background checks, or other rules for obtaining or carrying firearms.
Each person coming into an office of a clerk of a circuit court in the Commonwealth in order to apply for a Virginia resident concealed handgun permit pursuant to § 18.2-308.02, or renewal or replacement of a Virginia resident concealed handgun permit originally issued pursuant to such application, shall be presented with (i) a question asking whether or not the person is a United States citizen and (ii) the option to decline to have his information transmitted to the Department of Elections for voter registration purposes.
Why the model tagged it this way: The bill expands immigration-enforcement cooperation by mandating SAVE Program participation to verify citizenship of registered voters and by requiring additional state agencies (including circuit court clerks issuing concealed handgun permits, Wildlife Resources for hunting/fishing licenses, and the Milk Commission) to ask about citizenship status and report noncitizens monthly to election officials for voter roll maintenance and removal. It also adds automatic voter registration opportunities at concealed handgun permit applications (opt-out), but this does not alter any firearms purchase,
Related bills
HB28Voter registration; regular periodic review of registration records.↑Expands immigration enforcement Passed one chamber