Va. Senate Approves Red-Light Cameras

"What it really came down to is people are concerned about voting integrity," said Del. Timothy D. Hugo (R-Fairfax), who sponsored an identical bill that was approved by the House.

About 100 of 134 jurisdictions use paperless machines. Although some advocates have pushed for an immediate switch to paper machines, local registrars have opposed the move, saying it would be too costly. Hugo said it would probably be a decade before all the touch-screen machines are replaced.

House Republicans stymied the effort to raise the state's minimum wage to $6.50 an hour after they decided to send the bill to a committee that isn't scheduled to meet before the session ends Saturday.

The decision to refer the bill, approved 53 to 43, caps weeks of wrangling over an issue that Democrats are expected to highlight in this fall's legislative races.

Virginia has historically followed the federal minimum wage, currently $5.15 an hour. But Democrats in Richmond, emboldened by their party's successful use of the issue in last year's congressional races, have sought to impose a higher state wage this year.

The Republican-controlled Senate voted this month to raise the wage to $6.50 an hour. But Republicans on the House Commerce and Labor Committee, under pressure from GOP leaders, voted several times to block the measure. Del. Phillip A. Hamilton (R-Newport News) said Republicans were worried that the bill could cost the state money because some state employees earn the minimum wage.

Sue Capers of the Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness called it a "a sad day for Virginia's low-income workers."

"It is almost unbelievable to me they would defeat this bill. Virginia is a wealthy state, and all we asked for is $6.50 an hour," Capers said. "While it's a disappointment for those of us who worked for the bill, just imagine the people who are doing the work. I just hope people remember who did this when they go the polls in November."