They're known as party canvasses or unassembled caucuses or sometimes firehouse primaries. Whatever you call them, the important thing is that they nominate candidates in a process that is run by party leaders rather than election officials. They rarely happen for regularly scheduled elections because of requirements for participation of overseas and military voters.
But the number of days between a congressional election and the beginning of the General Assembly session just doesn't allow for the same kind of rules, says House Privileges and Elections Chairwoman Cia Price.
"Sometimes you have to weigh out what's worse," Price explains. "So, is having these firehouse caucuses and firehouse primaries; is that worse than having an entire district go a large chunk of a session without representation?"
The law requiring participation of overseas voters was introduced in 2021 by Delegate Dan Helmer of Fairfax, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"You know, on its face, the bill ensures that a soldier serving in Afghanistan and the other 90,000 Virginians serving in active duty aren't deprived of their ability to participate in selecting their nominee," Helmer said back in 2021 when the bill was up for debate.
One other important requirement for regularly scheduled elections that does not apply to special elections: 45 days of early voting. The calendar just doesn't have that many days between a November election and a January session of the General Assembly.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
