Four priorities for election law reform in Virginia discussed by VEBA legislative chair Robin Lind

When Virginia election officials met for training outside Richmond on August 16 and 17, there was a formal presentation about legislative changes that will take place as a result of the 2010 session of the General Assembly. James Alcorn, deputy secretary of the State Board of Elections (SBE), painstakingly listed the new and amended laws that will affect how localities conduct their elections in this and subsequent years.

In the corridors outside the conference hall, however, there were many informal conversations about future changes, both desirable and undesirable, that could be considered by the General Assembly in 2011.

Robin Lind, secretary of the Goochland County Electoral Board and legislative chair for the Virginia Electoral Board Association (VEBA), discussed the association’s top legislative priorities in an interview with the Charlottesville Libertarian Examiner.

Professional Elections Director
Number one, Lind said, is “a bill to create a professional director of elections rather than a political, partisan appointee [who] comes in for a four-year stretch,” after nomination by the governor as Secretary of the SBE. “This would be based on legislation that was introduced [in 2010] by Delegate Sam Nixon,” designated as HB 527, and which would also increase the size of the SBE from three to five members.

A similar bill, he explained, “passed both houses in 2006 and was vetoed by Governor Tim Kaine, who later admitted that he made a mistake in vetoing it.”

In the 2010 session, however, Nixon’s bill “passed 97-3 in the House of Delegates and was defeated in the Senate at the committee level by a vote of 7 to 6. I think that was strictly a partisan move because Democrats had gotten upset with Republicans for voting down some of their bills.”

The partisan committee vote, Lind said, “had nothing to do with the merits of the case. If it had gotten through the committee on to the floor, it would have passed the Senate, as it had back in 2006.”

He added: “It was simply a tit for tat, partisan bill-killing retaliation,” and that he is certain Governor McDonnell would sign the bill if it reached his desk.

Repeal the DRE Ban
The second priority for VEBA, Lind said, “is the repeal of the ban on direct recording electronic voting devices (DREs), which are used by about 60 percent of the jurisdictions in the state."

This is needed, he explained, “because the machines are starting to show signs of wear and tear and age and we’re not permitted by law to replace them. If you run low on machines and you can’t replace them, then you have to switch systems [completely], and this is an extraordinary financial burden at this time in most people’s budgets.”

Absentee Voting and Primary Funding
VEBA’s third legislative priority “is to gain introduce legislation to permit no-excuse absentee voting,” which would allow any voter to cast an absentee ballot for any reason within a certain period (perhaps 15 days) before Election Day.

Lind anticipates “enthusiastic” support for a new, fourth priority, “to have the code changed to require the state to reimburse localities for the cost of political party primaries.” Currently, local governments must bear the full cost for party primaries, even when turnout is low.

As an example, Lind cited his own Goochland County, where in the 2009 Democratic gubernatorial primary only 935 people voted. “It cost us over $12,000 to put on the primary. That was a cost of [about] $13.75 per vote. Our [board of] supervisors had no idea that we weren’t being reimbursed by the state.”

Lind was careful to note that “this is not a partisan issue. This is an equity issue for the localities,” the counties and cities.

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