VCC Magazine Fall 2017

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Virginia C apitol C onnections, Fall 2017
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Election Day 2017, your
town,your polling place
By Tracy Howard
You enter a familiar building, follow
the signs, pull out your driver’s license and
hand it to the person seated behind a small
computer. They ask for your name and
address, repeat it then hand you a ticket.
You swap the ticket for a ballot card;
you are directed to a little cardboard booth,
fill in a few ovals and put the now marked
ballot into something that looks like a
computer resting on a fancy trash can.
DING! Someone hands you an “I
VOTED” sticker. You go on your way. To most Virginians this
amounts to Election Day.
There may have been a short wait of a few minutes if you went
right before work or during lunch, but in a process that was both
relatively simple and speedy, you have exercised the most revered
and precious of all American rights.
Easy, huh?
From a voter’s singular viewpoint it can be difficult to imagine
that Election Day is the very public culmination and highly scrutinized
climax of months of effort.
“What?!?! You mean you guys work more than one day a year??
What do you do the rest of the year?”
Well, since you’ve asked… The Elections Office in your county
or city is there for you 5 days a week, 8 hours a day working to ensure
that your vote counts. As we approach any given Election Day, all
offices are open six days a week.
Virginia’s voter rolls are quickly approaching 5.5 million
individuals. Voter registration is now available 24 hours a day 365
days a year. In addition to your Elections Office you may register
online, at DMV, in public libraries, colleges, high schools, through
third party groups, and any place that offers a state service. What you
may not know is that every single application, electronic or paper,
taken through any of these sources goes through the hands of your
local general registrar and staff. EACH AND EVERY ONE.
In 2016 Virginia’s local registrar’s offices handled 3,196,780
individual applications. You can see for yourself at the Department of
These applications include new voters, out of locality transfers,
address changes, name changes, and updates. Each of these applications
was individually scrutinized and processed by a real person in a
local elections office somewhere between Cumberland Gap and
Chincoteague. Yes, it’s a full time job, no matter where you are.
Even as the registration process for the public has gotten much
easier, the behind the scenes preparation leading up to what the world
sees as a one day event, has gotten much more complex.
Elections are now among the most litigated and legally
complicated of any service offered by your Commonwealth.
Holding an election is a team effort. Every county or city
has a three member Electoral Board who is responsible for the
administration and oversight of the election itself. They appoint the
Election Officers, record the results then report to the Commonwealth.
Many of these duties are delegated to the general registrar as the
Director of Elections. The larger localities have a staff and several
workers, but for most of Virginia it’s the Registrar, the three member
board and an assistant or two.
For your local elections team, an “election” is actually comprised
of a three or four month period immediately prior to any given
Election Day. So, how many elections are possible in a 365 day
period? Yes, it’s a trick question.
We all know there is an election every November in all Virginia
counties and cities. It’s probable that every locality will hold two
elections, and it is not unheard of for a Virginia locality to hold three
or four elections in a calendar year. In 2016 many Virginia localities
had five separate elections, and for many localities in 2018 there are
already three elections scheduled.
As each election begins several months before Election Day they
often overlap. Absentee voting for the next election may have begun
before the current Election Day. Our offices are preparing ballots for
the June primary while absentee voting for the May local Election.
We’ll be checking candidate petitions for a November race, while
holding a June primary. List maintenance is ongoing throughout the
year only stopping for a short time before a specific Election Day.
Even after a given election is over and the news has announced the
winners, it isn’t complete, the canvass and reconciliation can run for
seven days. Recounts can take an additional month.
“Wow that sounds expensive; I guess the state takes care of that?”
Yes it is expensive, no the state puts very little into your local
elections office.
The question of who pays for elections always results in the
inevitable local vs. state struggle. The local governments foot the bill
with very little local governing authority.
Continued on next page
Noah Sullivan, a native of
Lynchburg, VA was first appointed
to the Governors staff in 2015
as Deputy Counsel. Sullivan
was appointed to Counsel of the
Governor in 2017 when Carlos
Hopkins was appointed to replace
John Harvey as Secretary of
Veterans and Defense Affairs.
Sullivan holds a Bachelors of Arts
in Government from the University
of Virginia and a Juris Doctorate
from Stanford Law School. Prior to
being appointed to Deputy Counsel
in 2015 Sullivan was an associate
at the law firm Gibson, Dunn &
Crutcher LLP inWashington DC.
On September 3, 2017, Carlos
Hopkins was appointed Secretary
of Veterans and Defense Affairs. He
previously served as Counsel to the
Governor. Prior to this he served as a
Deputy City Attorney in Richmond.
Before joining the City Attorney’s
Office, Carlos operated a small,
private practice. He served as the
Training Director for the Virginia
Indigent Defense Commission,
and as a Deputy Commonwealth’s
Attorney in Richmond. In addition
to his civilian legal experiences,
Carlos holds the rank of Lieutenant
Colonel in the Virginia Army
National Guard. Carlos received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political
Science and holds a law degree from the University of Richmond.
Two New Cabinet Members
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