This spring will see the last ever May elections for local government.
This May will see the last flowers of an old tradition in Virginia; the springtime election. Voters will go to the polls for the last time in May in Vienna, Berryville, New Market and Abingdon. Governor Ralph Northam signed a bill to move those municipal elections -- and all 111 other May elections that would have happened in future years -- to November.
Senator Lionell Spruill is a Democrat from Chesapeake who introduced the bill.
"Stand-alone, municipal elections usually draw only a small group of voters who often tend to be white, wealthier and older," he explained.
Senator Chap Petersen is a Democrat from Fairfax City who voted against the bill. He pointed to the original charter application from Fairfax City which specifically requested spring elections so federal employees could run for office.
"And the whole point about having spring municipal elections was to make sure that everybody could participate and potentially be a candidate. It wasn't just limited to the partisan ballot," Petersen said.
The vote in the General Assembly was largely along party lines because Democrats tend to do better in November elections, when more people are voting.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
