MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS SHIFT TO NOVEMBER
Northam signs bill intended to improve voter turnout in Va.
Gov. Ralph Northam signed a bill that shifts municipal elections from May to November, a change lawmakers hope will boost voter turnout.
The new law, which kicks in Jan. 1, will affect races in Williamsburg, Newport News, Hampton, Norfolk and Chesapeake. It affects nearly a million voters across Virginia, according to an estimate from the Virginia Public Access Project.
Senate Bill 1157, sponsored by Senator Lionel Spruill, passed the Senate in January thanks to a tie-breaking vote from Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax. In February, it narrowly passed the House by a vote of 50-44, with one abstention.
Spruill and other supporters say it will improve poor voter turnout by shifting the election to a day that’s already a holiday and more recognizable since people are used to voting for higher-profile offices, including president and Congress in November. Holding local elections in May is a form of voter suppression, Chesapeake Councilwoman Ella Ward told The Virginian-Pilot earlier this year.
And it could cut costs. Norfolk
registrar Stephanie Iles says moving the city’s May election to November would save at least $150,000.
But opponents have argued local elections will get lost in the mix with national issues. Chesapeake Mayor Rick West has argued there are other ways to increase voter access, as has been proven during the pandemic, and Chesapeake Councilwoman Debbie Ritter said she trusts voters to differentiate between May and November.
The bill was one of 80 Northam said he signed into law Friday, including including a measure that will end a ban on abortion coverage for insurance plans offered through the health benefits exchange in Virginia.
Others will provide financial aid to students regardless of immigration status and prohibit school boards from suing families to collect debts on unpaid school meals, his office said in a release.
The abortion legislation, sponsored by Sen. Jennifer McClellan and Del. Sally Hudson, undoes a ban enacted during Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell’s administration that contained very narrow exceptions. The legislation will allow insurers to cover abortion services but will not require them to do so.