Legislation filed ahead of the upcoming legislative session in Virginia would require the commonwealth to use security paper and watermarks on absentee ballots.
House Bill 1566, submitted last week by Delegate W. Chad Green (R-Seaford), would require all ballots requested by Virginia’s absentee voters to be “printed on security paper that incorporates a visible watermark,” in order to demonstrate the absentee ballot is authentic. The watermarks and security paper must nonetheless maintain “the absolute secrecy of the ballot.”
If successful, Virginia would join a number of states with similar requirements for their absentee ballots, including Tennessee, Kansas, and California.