AS BID TO DELAY MAY ELECTIONS FAILS, NORTHAM MULLS EXECUTIVE POWER
As of now, it appears municipal elections in Hampton Roads and dozens of other Virginia cities are still happening in less than two weeks, after a plan to push them from May 5 to Nov. 3 has failed. Late Wednesday night, after nine hours of debating budget and bill changes, state senators declined to take up Gov. Ralph Northam’s proposal to delay the elections because of the coronavirus.
Northam could use his executive power to move the May elections by two weeks — as he’s done with the summer primaries, which will be conducted June 23 instead of June 9 — and a spokeswoman for his office said Thursday the governor is carefully reviewing his next steps following the Senate’s rejection.
That move could make the new election date May 19.
Election officials in 60 localities are now awaiting direction while watching the number of positive coronavirus cases continue to rise in the state. In the meantime — and without guidance from the state Department of Elections — many are taking it upon themselves to put extra precautions in place as they prepare to hold elections May 5.
A few senators proposed an alternate date — June 16 — but that would require lawmakers to vote in a special session.
It’s unlikely two-thirds of the legislature would agree to convene a special session, and Northam has previously said he didn’t want to bring lawmakers back together for other issues because it would put their safety at risk during the pandemic.
Democrats who supported the move to November referenced recent media reports that at least seven people appeared to have contracted coronavirus during Wisconsin’s elections on April 7.
Virginia Democrats also pointed to the limited number of
polling places open during Wisconsin’s elections, which led to people standing in line for long periods of time.
“We’re all talking as if there’s not a pandemic going on,” said Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax. “And if we take a step that causes further deaths in this commonwealth, that’s on us.”
Republicans and some Democrats opposed to the move were concerned about the thousands of absentee ballots already cast that would have to be thrown out. They also said it would be unfair to the candidates.
“Put yourself in the place of these candidates on this day, on April 22, to all of a sudden hear all of your campaign efforts, all of your initiatives are for naught,” said Sen. Tommy Norment, R-James City County. “How would you feel if you, in fact, were the candidate?”
In his proposal to move city and county elections to June 16, Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax City, instructed the Virginia Board of Elections to develop guidelines for inperson voting. He also proposed moving congressional primaries to July 28.
Chesapeake, Norfolk, Hampton, Newport News and Williamsburg have city council, school board or mayoral elections in May. Registrars there have been encouraging people to vote absentee by mail — voters can select the excuse of “disability/illness” when applying — while figuring out which polling locations could be open and who can staff them.
They’ve all reported large increases in absentee ballots — as high in some places as they would be during a presidential election. The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot is Tuesday, but could be extended if elections move to a later date.
In Chesapeake, where more than 9,500 absentee ballots had been mailed, registrar Mary Lynn Pinkerman said the city is working on getting polling locations to do curbside voting.
A few churches in Chesapeake, closed because of the pandemic, have said they won’t open for Election Day on May 5, Pinkerman said. She was hoping the election would be moved to June 16, a few days past the end of the governor’s stay-athome order, so those places would feel more comfortable with voters showing up to cast ballots. She said she’s still working with the churches.
If the election happens before
June 16, Pinkerman said it’s possible she’d have to consider combining a couple precincts. Virginia state code allows local registrars to move precincts during emergencies.
“For a situation in which we plan weeks and months in advance, being this close and things so unsure is not anything I would ever want to do again,” Pinkerman said. “It makes for some sleepless nights.”
Williamsburg also is implementing curbside voting by moving its two polling locations to the Boundary Street firehouse, where each precinct will have its own drivethru bay.
In Newport News, registrar Vicki Lewis will have to make precincts share space as four polling sites will be closed, including a retirement community concerned about letting people into the facility.
The 41 polling locations will all have personal protective equipment, hand sanitizer and other cleaners on hand. The city has also built plexiglass shields for the volunteers and elections officers.
Several election officials have safety concerns and won’t be working on Election Day, Lewis said. The number of volunteers and voters allowed in one precinct at the same time also will be limited.
Norfolk registrar Stephanie Iles is taking similar precautions, including enforcing social distancing and complying with the existing 10-person limit on gatherings inside precincts. That could mean long lines outside, Iles said.
She’s also facing a staffing shortage, and said most of her election officials were at a high risk of catching the virus because of their age.
Iles said a big part of her job is planning for eventual emergencies — she recalls one instance when a polling place was being demolished and her office didn’t know until the wrecking ball showed up two weeks before an election.
“But this is something new we’re dealing with, with the pandemic — how do you protect your voters, how do you protect your election officials?” Iles said.
The uncertainty over when elections will be held has also led to some confusion among candidates who are reconsidering when to deploy mailers and other campaign materials.
“I’m just looking forward to knowing if it’s May 5 or 19 and whether I need to change my strategy,” Williamsburg City Council candidate W.P. “Pat” Dent said. “Right now I’m pushing forward as if it’s going to be on May 5.”
Another Williamsburg council candidate, Caleb T. Rogers, said he was disappointed the election may remain in May.
“Virginia has not yet hit its peak in cases, and the last thing we should do is encourage traffic through one enclosed area soon on Election Day,” he said.
“For a situation in which we plan weeks and months in advance, being this close and things so unsure is not anything I would ever want to do again.”
— Chesapeake voter registrar Mary Lynn Pinkerman