Good Government Requires Good Elections
Good government requires good elections. Good elections, in turn,
require adequate funding, staffing, and attention to the legal environment
in which elections operate. The time is now for Virginia policymakers to
review these aspects of Virginia’s electoral process.
Below are pressing issues that need to be addressed in Virginia:
1. The General Assembly should equalize pay
between general registrars and treasurers.
The General Registrar/Electoral Board Work Group
recommended—based on the workload and similarity of the yearly work
cycle of their offices—that registrars’ pay should be at parity with the
state’s treasurers. Virginia has long had a well-run and well-maintained
election system, and this is due in no small part to the registrars and
their staffs. With the coming wave of retirements, as well as changes in
the lengths of time younger generations remain in a particular position,
Virginia has to have salaries for registrars that will attract and retain
qualified personnel.
Virginia’s registrars work year-round to ensure that the voter
registration records are accurate and up-to-date. There is constant
preparation for the next election, as well as reviewing candidate filings,
campaign finance paperwork, attendance at meetings critical to ensuring
continued compliance with federal, state, and local laws, supervision of
staff, preparation of budgets for local government review, and providing
voter education to the public. The continued viability of this system
depends upon having trained and qualified people in the position of
general registrar.
There is no good policy reason that the keepers of the
Commonwealth’s money should be paid so much more than the keepers
of the Commonwealth’s election system – the cornerstone on which all
else is built.
2. The General Assembly should review voter registration
and election laws with the goal of making them efficient
and up-to-date.
Virginia has not had a thorough review of election laws since the
early 1990s. Since that time the federal government has passed two
substantive laws affecting voting and elections. The General Assembly
makes changes every year in Title 24.2. In addition, there are portions of
Title 24.2 that do not agree with other portions of Title 24.2.
Elections have become increasingly politicized, and conflicts in
laws are a recipe for lack of confidence in a secure and well-administered
election system.
The Virginia Code Commission needs to review Title 24.2 with a
view toward recodification. The Registrars Association and the Electoral
Board Association have been in contact with the hard-working staff and
members of the Code Commission, and it has been made clear that they
do not have the resources to devote to this deep a review of Title 24.2
until after redistricting in 2021. The General Assembly needs to provide
the Code Commission with the resources necessary to review Title 24.2
without delay.
3. The General Assembly should establish the Commissioner
of Elections as an appointee of a five-member State Board
of Elections, with a super majority required for removal,
and ensure adequate funding for the Department of Elections.
The State Board of Elections and the Department of Elections are
established to help coordinate the work of Virginia’s 133 registrars and
electoral boards. When the central agency is inadequately funded, this
affects the ability of the agency to provide guidance to the registrars
and electoral boards. In turn, this increases the risk of non-uniformity,
inefficiency, and illegal or incorrect practices that invite litigation.
The State Board of Elections should be a five-member board with
staggered terms so that there is a constant bench of experience and
knowledge about how elections work. Currently, the entire board of
three members does not have staggered terms (unlike the local electoral
boards, which are staggered), and there is a lack of experience when a
new board comes on.
Virginia Capitol Connections, Winter 2018
By Walt Latham
In addition, the Commissioner of
Elections should not be a gubernatorial
appointee who serves at the pleasure of the
Governor. Instead, the Commissioner should
be an elections professional whose job is
protected from competing political winds.
This can be achieved by having the five-
member State Board of Elections appoint the
Commissioner and have the power to remove
the Commissioner, for cause.
4. The General Assembly should study
bills to ensure
that they are implemented in a cost-effective way
that benefits Virginia’s voters.
Va. Code 30-19.03 provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
Whenever any legislative bill requiring a net additional expenditure
by any county, city, or town, or whenever any legislative bill
requiring a net reduction of revenues by any county, city, or
town, is filed during any session of the General Assembly, the
Commission on Local Government shall investigate and prepare
an estimate setting forth, to the extent practicable, the additional
expenditures or reduction of revenues, if any, to be required of the
affected localities in event of enactment of such legislation
Every year the General Assembly considers legislation affecting
elections or voter registration that will cost localities additional funds,
and these bills are not sent to the Commission on Local Government
for review.
Early voting bills are good examples of the types of bills that it
would be prudent for the General Assembly to refer to the Commission
on Local Government for analysis because it will increase Virginia
localities’ election expenditures. For example, in North Carolina’s 2016
presidential election, over 60% of the total votes cast for president were
in-person early votes. In a typical locality in Virginia this would be far
above what registrars’ offices are able to accommodate in their current
facilities. Accordingly, additional staff and office space, including
satellite offices, would be needed in order to ensure that voting is
equitable and accessible to all voters and that voting machines and
ballots are secure.
In addition, the General Assembly can take advantage of innovations
in other states to investigate ways to improve the voting experience for
Virginia’s voters. Again, early voting is an example of a proposal that
Virginia could research before implementing: it is the law in many states,
including every state around Virginia, and the Commonwealth could
benefit from a review of the laws and policies pertaining to early voting.
Even if it is not the will of the General Assembly to implement early
voting yet, it would be prudent to study what other states’ experiences
have been in implementing early voting.
5. The General Assembly should direct a review of pay
and classification standards for staff in registrars’ offices,
as well as a review of minimum office space and office equipment
standards.
At present there are no pay or classification standards for assistant
registrars. For the same reason that the Commonwealth has pay and
classification standards for staff in constitutional offices, and because
registrars need to be able to uniformly obtain and retain qualified and
skilled staff, Virginia needs to have pay and classification standards for
assistant registrars. In addition, the Commonwealth needs to devote
resources to study the space and equipment requirements for registrars’
offices to ensure access to the public, that election equipment and
records are able to be adequately and securely stored, and that there is
enough space for the number of staff necessary to perform registration
and election tasks during peak periods of activity.
When reviewing the resources available to elections professionals,
and when reviewing changes to laws and policies applicable to elections,
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See Good Government, continued on page 9
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last November was notably larger than that of Hillary Clinton/Tim
Kaine ticket, which won the Old Dominion by roughly 5 points in 2016.
Republicans are gaining in some places, but the strongest
Republican areas are in the sparsely populated counties of Virginia’s
southwestern corner, an economically struggling region that attracts
few new residents.
Democrats may be an endangered species in Russell County in
Southwest Virginia, for example, where Northam received 22 percent
of the vote. But places like Russell doesn’t amount to much in statewide
vote totals: the county gave Republican Ed Gillespie a roughly 3,600
vote advantage. In contrast, Fairfax County gave Northam a margin of
137,000 more votes.
The greatest declines in support for Democratic candidates were
Buchanan and Tazewell counties, where the party’s vote share dropped
by 29 and 25 points respectively during the 12-year period, a time when
unionized coal jobs in the region were in steep decline. The greatest
increase in support for Democratic candidates occurred in Manassas hen it comes to events no one
Park, a rapidly diversifying corner of Northern Virginia, which marked
a 17-point gain for Northam when compared to Kaine’s 2005 election.
Virginia is not a one-party dominant jurisdiction. When parties throws a party like David Napier.
are tired of losing, they change strategies. For Republicans, then, the
elections of 2017 offered a painful lesson: to win, future GOP statewide Known throughout Central Virginia for his
candidates must respond to a state that is growing increasingly
suburban, more ethnically diverse, and less rural with each election
cycle. An economically focused message is far more likely to win wonderful food and hospitality, David is
such voters than a more divisive campaign that focuses on abortion,
Confederate statues, and Latino gangs. delighted to have opened his catering facility in
This June, Republicans will select the party’s nominee to challenge
Kaine in his bid for re-election to the U.S. Senate. Will the party
respond to the changing political culture of Virginia? the heart of Shockoe Bottom. No event is too
This is the key electoral question for Virginia politics in 2018.
Stephen J. Farnsworth is professor of political science at the small or large. Delicious Box Lunches delivered.
University of Mary Washington, where he directs the Center for
Leadership and Media Studies. Stephen Hanna is professor of
geography at UMW.V
O ne of Richmond’s most elegant dining
Making History from page 6
evidence that our representatives listen.” rooms is now exclusively available for your
It all comes back to Virginia’s long-time role in making American
history and the opportunities that are being presented now. Newly private parties and special events. Our award
sworn-in Governor Ralph Northam talked about Virginia moving
forward in his Inaugural speech. In fact, one of the closing lines was,
“This country is once again looking to Virginia to lead the way.” The winning chefs produce an array of dishes from
whole country is watching us. In fact, the whole world is watching.
The now famous Richmond billboard also reads, “Not One More steaks and seafood to vegetarian and
GenERAtion.” What about not one more year? What if this is the year
that Virginia leads the way by ratifying the ERA? “What if” indeed.
Only time…and this session…will tell. international masterpieces that will satisfy the
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Good Government from page 7
policymakers should carefully weigh (1) access by voters to the process,
(2) efficiency in the administration and operation of the process, and
(3) upholding the integrity of the process. All of these are important to Parking available adjacent to building
ensuring that Virginia elections meet the expectations of Virginia voters
and that the voters maintain confidence in their elections.
Phone 804-644-1702
We are interested in working closely with policymakers as we FAX: 804-644-1703
approach the 2018 Session.
Please do not hesitate to contact your local electoral board members E-Mail: thecitybar1548@gmail.com
or voter registrar. Web Site: www.whitehousecateringva.com
Walt Latham, General Registrar at York County, President of the
Voter Registrars Association of Virginia.V
Virginia Capitol Connections, Winter 2018
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