COURTHOUSE — Shene Midgette, who has lived and voted in Virginia Beach for about five years, placed a completed ballot into the drop box outside the Voter Registration & Elections office on Wednesday, Sept. 28.
Midgette had voted in the congressional race that is on every ballot in the city this year, as well as one City Council contest and a School Board race under a new district voting system.
But Midgette wasn’t aware what the new local voting district was or know the details of sweeping changes to the system in Virginia Beach meant.
“I didn’t know,” Midgette said. “Something to Google.”
Midgette is not alone. Early voting is underway for the 2022 elections, and some voters are still learning about – or have not yet heard about – big changes to the local voting system which has drastically changed which races voters participate in.
Following a federal voting rights lawsuit, Virginia Beach is using a new 10-district voting system for City Council and School Board races this year.
Due to the suit and changes to state law, the former longtime voting system is no more.
Under it, all voters participated in selecting officials in each race, even if that voter lived outside a residency district. Now, only residents of a district select their representation. That means voters are learning new districts, and, because local elections are staggered, not every voter has a council or School Board race on their ballot.
The city is running a public information campaign and set up a website – www.vbgov.com/vb10 – with information about the changes, as well as tools citizens can use to determine which new district they live in.
The city also launched a toolkit so people can share information about changes to the system, according to a statement released this past week.
The kits include posters, information and suggested social media posts, and they are in English, Spanish and Tagalog. Links are located on the right side of the www.vbgov.com/vb10 page.
Additional information is available from the local registrar via www.vbgov.com/voter, including sample ballots, and the state sent out cards with redistricting information.
“Everybody should have gotten or will receive their card,” Virginia Beach Elections Director Christine Lewis said on Wednesday, Sept. 28.
Lewis said some voters have showed up to find only the race for Congress is on their ballot because some new local district races are not scheduled for 2022 elections.
“We have had some ask, ‘Where’s my City Council?” Lewis said. “Where’s my School Board?’”
Officials try to explain to some citizens, some of whom are used to voting in all local races, that certain new districts are not scheduled to be up for election until 2024.
Melissa Peck, a candidate who is running in a special election for City Council in the new District 1, arrived at the elections office with her husband, Ryan Peck, who planned to vote.
Melissa Peck said campaigning this year in a race against City Councilmember Rocky Holcomb, who was appointed to a seat following a resignation and previously served in the General Assembly, has been partially about telling voters about the new system.
For example, it can be confusing explaining the difference between Virginia Congressional District 2 and Virginia Beach District 1, even for people who have gotten their cards from the state.
“I’ve heard, ‘Oh, no. We’re not District 1. We’re District 2,” Peck said. “No, for Congress, you’re District 2.”
The Pecks headed inside so Ryan Peck could cast his early in-person ballot. In this case, the voter knew his district.
As for his preference? “I’ll see when I get in there,” the candidate’s husband joked.
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