Can a Virginia general registrar speak about voting or voter registration at a private, non-partisan civic group meeting?

Plain-English summary

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares concluded that a general registrar may speak about voting or voter registration at a meeting of a private, nonprofit, non-partisan civic organization. An invitation to speak is not “money, grants, property, or services” given to the registrar under Virginia Code § 24.2-124.1. That statute bars local electoral boards and registrar offices from soliciting, accepting, using, or disposing of those things when given by a private party to fund voter education, registration, or other election expenses.

The permission has a condition: the speaking engagement must not involve soliciting, accepting, using, or disposing of private money, grants, property, or services to fund election-related expenses. The opinion also points to the separate duty of general registrars under Code § 24.2-114 to participate in public education about registration. It addresses a registrar and the kind of private, nonprofit, non-partisan event described in the request. It reaches no conclusion about an electoral board member's own speaking engagement.

What this means for you

If you are a general registrar

You may accept an invitation to speak about voting or registration at the kind of civic meeting described in the opinion. Make sure the engagement does not involve private funding or services for your office's election-related expenses. The AG treats the invitation itself as distinct from such a contribution.

If you organize a civic meeting

Inviting a registrar to speak about voting or registration at a private, nonprofit, non-partisan meeting is permitted under the AG's reading of § 24.2-124.1. The opinion does not decide whether providing money, property, or services to an election office as part of an event would be permitted.

If you serve on an electoral board

The statute names local electoral boards as well as registrar offices in its private-funding prohibition. This opinion answers only whether a general registrar may accept the described invitation. It does not decide the same question for an electoral board member.

Common questions

Q: Is an invitation to speak a prohibited private “service” to the registrar?
A: No. The AG considered the ordinary meanings of “money, grants, property, or services” and concluded that none covers the invitation described in the request.

Q: Can the registrar solicit private money for election expenses while at the meeting?
A: The opinion's permission is conditional. The engagement must not involve soliciting, accepting, using, or disposing of private money, grants, property, or services to fund election-related expenses.

Q: Does the opinion cover a partisan event?
A: It addresses a private, nonprofit, non-partisan civic meeting. It does not answer whether the same conclusion applies to a different kind of event.

Q: Does it also authorize an electoral board member to accept a speaking invitation?
A: The opinion does not answer that question. Its request and conclusion concern a general registrar.

Background and statutory framework

Section 24.2-124.1 prohibits local electoral boards and registrar offices from soliciting, accepting, using, or disposing of private money, grants, property, or services for voter education and outreach, voter registration, or other election expenses. The AG reasoned that an invitation to speak at the described event is not one of the things transferred to the registrar under those words' ordinary meanings.

Code § 24.2-114 directs general registrars to participate in programs educating the public about registration and encouraging registration. Reading the two provisions together, the AG concluded that a registrar may give the described talk as long as the engagement does not involve the prohibited private support for election-related expenses.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.oag.state.va.us/annual-reports-opinions/official-opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.oag.state.va.us/files/Opinions/2023/23-005-Flood-Heilman-issued.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain; the linked PDF is authoritative.

COMMONWEALTH of VIRGINIA

Office of the Attorney General
202 North Ninth Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
804-786-2071
Fax 804-786-1991
July 27, 2023

Jason S. Miyares
Attorney General

Ms. Sylvia Flood, Chair
Mr. Jim Heilman, Secretary
Albemarle County Electoral Board
1600 5th Street
Charlottesville, Virginia 22902

Dear Ms. Flood and Mr. Heilman:

I am responding to your request for an official advisory opinion in accordance with § 2.2-505 of the Code of Virginia.

Issue Presented

You ask whether Virginia Code § 24.2-124.1 prohibits a general registrar from speaking about voter registration and voting at a meeting of a private, non-profit, and non-partisan civic organization.

Response

It is my opinion that a general registrar may speak at such an event, provided that the speaking engagement otherwise does not involve the solicitation, acceptance, use, or disposition of any money, grants, property, or services given by a private party to fund election-related expenses.

Applicable Law and Discussion

As this Office previously has stated, § 24.2-124.1 "establishes a general prohibition against the funding of election procedures by private parties." It specifically directs that

each local electoral board[] and all offices of the general registrar shall not solicit, accept, use, or dispose of any money, grants, property, or services given by a private individual or nongovernmental entity for the purpose of funding voter education and outreach programs, voter registration programs, or any other expense incurred in the conduct of elections.

"When a statute, as written, is clear on its face, [we] will look no further than the plain meaning of the statute's words." "'[W]e are bound by the plain meaning of that language,' unless 'applying the plain language would lead to an absurd result.'" When ascertaining and giving effect to legislative intent, "the plain, obvious, and rational meaning of a statute is always to be preferred to any curious, narrow, or strained construction."

The prohibition set forth in § 24.2-124.1 applies to "money, grants, property, or services" given by private parties for certain purposes. Therefore, as a threshold matter, to fall within the terms of the statutory prohibition, an invitation to speak at an event must constitute either "money, grants, property, or services" given to the registrar by the event host. "In the absence of a statutory definition and where no technical or special meaning is explicitly stated in or necessarily implied from the language and context of a statute, words which the legislature has seen fit to employ are to be given their usual and ordinary meanings." In determining a term's "ordinary meaning," standard dictionary definitions may be consulted. Considering such definitions and affording each of the applicable terms their plain meaning, I conclude that § 24.2-124.1 does not prohibit acceptance of an invitation such as the one you describe.

As defined by a common dictionary, "money" means "something generally accepted as a medium of exchange, a measure of value, or a means of payment." Likewise, a "grant" in this context is defined as "a transfer of real or personal property by deed or writing." The common usage dictionary definition of "property" is "something that is or may be owned or possessed." "Service" is defined as "the performance of work commanded or paid for by another" or "an act done for the benefit or at the command of another." These definitions demonstrate that the plain meaning of "money, grants, property, or services" does not encompass an invitation to speak about voting at an event such as you describe. Consequently, the language of § 24.2-124.1 evinces that a general registrar may accept such an invitation without contravening the statute's prohibitions.

Moreover, statutes "should not be analyzed as isolated fragments of law." Rather, they are to be "considered as if they constituted but one act, so that sections of one act may be considered as though they were parts of the other act . . . ." Code § 24.2-114 sets forth various powers and duties of general registrars. Among the responsibilities imposed is a charge to "[p]articipate in programs to educate the general public concerning registration and encourage registration by the general public." Section 24.2-124.1 does not negate this duty. I therefore conclude that, in exercising his or her duties, a general registrar may speak at a privately-hosted event regarding voting or voter registration, provided the registrar, in so doing, does not solicit, accept, use, or dispose of any money, grants, property, or services of the private host or any other private party.

Conclusion

Accordingly, it is my opinion that § 24.2-124.1 does not prohibit a general registrar from speaking about voting or voting registration at a meeting of a private, non-profit, and non-partisan civic organization, provided the speaking engagement otherwise does not involve the solicitation, acceptance, use, or disposition of any money, grants, property, or services given by a private party to fund election-related expenses.

With kindest regards, I am,

Very truly yours,

Jason S. Miyares
Attorney General