Members of the General Assembly are considering the future of odd year elections.
Ever since Virginia adopted a new Constitution in 1850, election officials have had an odd tradition – odd year elections. Now, members of the General Assembly say it's time to rethink that tradition. Delegate Shelly Simonds is a Democrat from Newport News who introduced a bill to study how Virginia could ditch odd year elections.
"I think people move to Virginia, and they say, ‘Why do you have elections every single year?’ And there's a lot of burnout on behalf of voters," Simonds says. "It's also costly, and it would be much more efficient to consolidate these elections if we can."
Republicans oppose the effort to ditch odd-year elections, and they worry Democrats are trying to rig the system.
"I think there's a number of us who smelt a rat in terms of what is behind this effort on the other side," says Republican House Leader Todd Gilbert. "Clearly I think they think they have an advantage."
Changing state elections from odd to even years would involve a complicated transition, one that could have a governor with a three-year term or a five-year term. Members of the House and Senate will be taking two years to study how that transition works, and if they want to make it happen.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
