A few months after officials in Norfolk, Va., unsuccessfully tried to oust a controversial electoral board member, state lawmakers are considering several bills that would make it easier to remove registrars and board members who do not perform their duties.

One bill, HB78, would make a board member’s failure to certify an election punishable by removal proceedings and a $1,000 fine. Another, HB41, would allow elections officials to vote out general registrars and electoral board members without a Circuit Court judge decision.

The latter would prevent a situation like last year, when a Circuit Court judge ruled against the State Board of Elections after it asked to remove former Norfolk Electoral Board vice chair Marianne McKay. Norfolk election officials petitioned the Elections Board to remove McKay after she attempted to rescind her certification of the 2024 results because she was not allowed to personally review thousands of provisional ballots, among other actions.

The bill, sponsored by Del. Marcus Simon, D-Falls Church, would allow the removal of general registrars and electoral board members by a two-thirds majority vote of the State Board of Elections. The officials could be removed for “neglect of a clear ministerial duty of the office, misuse of the office, or incompetence in the performance of the duties of the office, or an unambiguous indication of a future refusal or failure to carry out the duties of the office,” according to the bill text.

Registrars could also be removed by a unanimous vote of all local electoral board members, per the legislation.

Simon said the bill arose because of a case in which two electoral board members in Waynesboro refused to certify the 2024 election results. They expressed concerns about electronic counting machines and asked to hand count ballots, according to the Staunton News Leader. A judge later required them to certify the results.

“So, this bill would, just under those extreme circumstances, provide another outlet for removing registrars and members of the electoral board,” Simon told a Virginia Senate elections subcommittee Tuesday.

Another bill from Del. Cia Price would begin removal proceedings by the State Board of Elections of any electoral board member who fails to certify an election and also fine them $1,000.

Price, a Newport News Democrat, said electoral board members are required by law to certify election results and should bring up process concerns through legal proceedings.

“Even if you think something went wrong, you still have to certify the results,” Price said. Board members are required to certify results as a ministerial duty, according to state law.

Price said the bills also aimed to strengthen state elections against attacks from Donald Trump’s administration. Trump has mused about taking federal control of elections, which are administered by the states in powers dictated by the U.S. Constitution.

McKay, whose term on the electoral board expired in December, said she opposed both bills. She said Simon’s bill would have taken away the legal protections that allowed her to remain in her position. Additionally, she said she opposed Price’s bill because she believed board members should be allowed to decline to certify elections if they believe irregularities occurred.

Norfolk General Registrar Stephanie Iles declined to comment on the legislation, but said the Simon bill would have removed McKay if it had been the law in 2025. The other two board members at the time of McKay’s removal attempt, Atoy Carrington and Michael Ziegenfuss, did not respond to requests for comment.

The two bills have passed the House of Delegates and are awaiting votes in the Senate.

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