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An effort to study Virginia's yearly elections is still alive in Richmond

Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell outlines his proposal to investigate getting rid of odd year elections in Virginia.
Michael Pope reports.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell outlines his proposal to investigate getting rid of odd year elections in Virginia.

Should Virginia ditch the longstanding practice of electing the General Assembly and the governor in odd year elections?

The first odd year election in Virginia was in 1851, after a new state Constitution was approved and members of the House were elected to a two-year term. Before that, members of the House had one-year terms, and voters selected members every single year.

Now, Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell says modern day voters are sick and tired of voting every year.

"Having elections every single year in Virginia, many of us believe that contributes to voter apathy, voters just being worn out from constantly being subject to election information," he says. "As you all know, turnouts when we tend to be on the ballot in this chamber tend out to be 50% of what they are when we have an election for president."

Republicans are skeptical.

"I do not understand why we'd want to have state elections be run by the outcome of federal elections," says Senate Republican Leader Ryan McDougle. "Let us stand on what we’re doing here in Virginia and articulate that to the citizens of the Commonwealth."

Surovell has a resolution that would create a study to figure out if Virginia should ditch this odd tradition, and how the transition would happen. That resolution passed the Senate Wednesday afternoon, and a similar resolution is under consideration in the House.

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.

Michael Pope is an author and journalist who lives in Old Town Alexandria.