More Virginia localities consider voting system changes
After Arlington County successfully adopted and implemented ranked-choice voting for a general election earlier this month, more localities are considering reforming their voting options.
Leaders in Albemarle County and the cities of Fairfax and Newport News are considering ranked-choice voting, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, for city council and county board of supervisors elections.
Simultaneously, Virginia Beach was considering amending its charter to allow the city to use the 10-1 voting system that splits the voting age population into 10 equal districts to vote for the mayor and the representative for their district. But on Tuesday evening, the city council voted not to approve the change.
Sally Hudson, executive director for Ranked Choice Virginia and a former state delegate representing the city of Charlottesville, said because of the public's wavering faith in democracy at the federal level, it's leading more people to question the fairness of election systems in Virginia and other states.
"I think that the current crisis of faith in democracy at the federal level is getting a lot of people to look more carefully about how all these decisions that we make all the way down to the local level are reflective of some norms and assumptions that may no longer serve us well," said Hudson.
In 2020, Virginia passed legislation that Hudson carried as a delegate, allowing localities to use ranked-choice voting for city and county governing body elections. But lawmakers will have to consider renewing the legislation before it sunsets on July 1, 2031.
Advocates say the goal of ranked-choice voting is to reflect the actual majority of the vote. Opponents argue that may not be true under single-transferable voting, a system similar to ranked-choice voting, which could allow candidates with minimal support to be elected to office.
"I think we need to take a look at ranked-choice voting throughout the commonwealth," said Newport News Mayor Phillip Jones. "There are a lot of elections [including for] local constitutional officers and other elections in which the winner wins 30% of the vote. I think it's important to take a look at it holistically."
As part of Newport News' charter review, the mayor has tasked the review committee to examine ranked-choice voting and return with recommendations in the summer.
According to state law, ranked-choice votes will be counted in each step to determine who wins or who has the least number of votes, compared to the single-choice voting method.
Under the single-choice voting method, in which voters pick one candidate, Newport News' central district council seat had five candidates in the Nov. 5 General Election, and the candidate with the highest percentage of votes led with 31%.
Jones said that shows more people getting engaged in the electoral process. He said more people are also considering running for office: school board, city council, mayor, constitutional offices.
"There are multiple ways to take a look at this issue, and I think one of the solutions on the table is ranked-choice voting," he said. "I think that is going to allow people to really make their voice heard, and you're able to get to that 50% threshold instead of 28% or 30% or 40%."
In Northern Virginia, the Fairfax City Council is scheduled to convene a work session on ranked-choice voting on Dec. 3.
Fairfax City Mayor Catherine Read said she requested the work session for her and her colleagues on the concept of the voting method as the city discusses its election process. The city council has elections every two years.
"Ranked-choice voting needs to be better understood," Read said in a statement. "I'm open to new ideas and concepts if we can see it produces an outcome that people want. This work session is a very preliminary first step in that exploration."
In the Piedmont Region, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors is also weighing its options with ranked-choice voting. After the elections office and the three-member electoral board made presentations about the voting method on Aug. 21, the board has yet to make any further plans.
Lauren Eddy, general registrar and director of elections in Albemarle County, said in the first presentation if the county adopts ranked-choice voting, supervisors should expect to cover the costs for software upgrades, equipment and voter education, which could cost at least $70,000. Eddy said the county could leverage the costs with county communication resources and educational materials developed by other jurisdictions that have adopted ranked-choice voting.
However, in the second presentation, Clara Belle Wheeler, vice chair of the county electoral board and former Virginia State Board of Elections member, said having a ranked-choice voting system is expensive, confusing and there's no need for it. The electoral board is represented by the political party of the current Virginia governor, and one member of the party receiving the second-highest number of votes for that office.
"We have numerous elderly voters and they may know a lot about one the candidate they like, but they will have trouble voting a ranked-choice ballot," Wheeler said. "The less well-informed and the less well-educated will have the same problem, and they could conceivably be disenfranchised. ... If you can't figure out how to mark the ballot, your ballot is not gonna even count."
Some supervisors criticized the presentation by Wheeler, describing it as "poor" and "skewed," and some took offense to her remarks. Wheeler is a senior fellow at the Virginia Institute for Public Policy, a conservative think tank that has promoted myths about voter fraud.
Virginia Beach change
After a scheduled public hearing on Tuesday, the Virginia Beach City Council failed to garner enough votes to amend the city charter to use the 10-1 voting system. The council needed a three-fourths majority, or nine members, to support the measure and send it the request to the General Assembly for approval.
According to a survey by the Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia, 78% of city residents surveyed said their interests are "well-represented" under the 10-1 system. The survey included more than 2,100 residents.
"This system has proven to be a vital step towards ensuring equitable representation and addressing the historical disparities faced by minority communities in our city," said the Virginia chapter of the NAACP in a statement.
According to city records, in November 2022, the city first conducted its election using the 10-1 voting method after a lengthy legal battle in federal district court. Then on Aug. 15 of last year, the city adopted in its decennial redistricting ordinance that included the 10-1 system and newly formed district boundaries ordered by the court.
Under the city charter, Virginia Beach voters used the 7-3-1 system, dividing the city into seven districts and three at-large seats, allowing residents to vote on 11 seats, according to the city.
In January 2024, former Councilor Linwood Branch filed a lawsuit alleging the 10-1 system was illegally implemented and goes against the city charter, according to 13 News Now.
Last session, the governor vetoed legislation to amend Virginia Beach's charter because of "pending litigation concerning the validity of the adopted district system in Virginia Beach," and he said he expected "that this legislation will be reintroduced once the court's adjudication has been finalized."
If the city and General Assembly backed the change to the charter, Virginia Beach's members representing districts 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10 will be elected during the November 2026 general election. In the November 2028 general election, voters will select candidates for districts 1, 3, 5 and 7 and for the mayoral seat. Each member is elected for terms of four years.
This story was originally published in the Virginia Mercury.
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