Virginia subcommittee backs bill to shield candidates’ home contact information

Delegate McClure told the House subcommittee on campaigns and candidates that HB 835 would allow candidates to use the unique identifier assigned in the Virginia voter-registration system in place of a residential address on petitions, filings and campaign statements and would prohibit release of a candidate’s home address, phone number or email without the candidate’s written consent. "HB 835 strikes a balance between transparency and safety," McClure said, saying the change would let the Department of Elections verify district residency without exposing precise home data.

McClure cited an uptick in threats to public officials, telling the panel that the Virginia Fusion Center and State Police behavioral threat assessment teams reported at least 100 threats against public officials and legislators in the past year — a statistic he described as a 108% increase from 2024. Public witnesses including Tram Nguyen of New Virginia Majority and Gaylene Kenoitchen of the Virginia NAACP called into the hearing to express support for the bill based on safety concerns. Megan Ryan of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government said she did not oppose the bill but raised questions about the duration of a FOIA exemption for names and addresses and asked how long protections would apply to candidates who later lost an election.

McClure said he declined to add a time limit on the exemption because requiring the Department of Elections to calculate expiration dates would create an administrative burden; under the bill as presented the agency could withhold release of the information. The subcommittee voted to report the bill to the full committee with a recommendation of 6–2.

The next step is consideration by the full committee; the subcommittee record shows no formal amendment adopted at this hearing.