Falls Church city leaders are asking the General Assembly to push back the statewide election-poll-opening time from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m., while moving the closing time from 7 to 8 p.m.
A change would benefit those who serve as officers of election at polling places, who must be there about an hour before the opening. It also “would put Virginia in line with most of the surrounding states,” Falls Church Electoral Board members said in a letter to the City Council.
The body includes chair Alan Wisdom and vice chair Art DeCelle, both Republicans, and secretary Renee Bergmann Andrews, a Democrat.
City Council members included the proposal, and others made by the Electoral Board, in the Falls Church’s 2025 legislative-priorities package for the 2025 General Assembly session.
The General Assembly in 2020 passed legislation changing statewide polling-place hours during elections from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., adding an extra hour, but the measure required that it be passed again in 2021, and that did not happen.
“We oppose adding an extra hour for our officers of election, who already work a 15-hours-or-more day,” Electoral Board members said in their letter to Council members.
Moving the start time to 7 a.m. could be problematic for voters who prefer to cast ballots before heading to work or otherwise starting their day. And while many Virginians in recent years have opted to vote early either by mail or in person, Election Day voting remains strong.
Among other items in the Falls Church Electoral Board’s 2025 legislative wish list:
- Have the General Assembly restore full reimbursement to localities to meet Code of Virginia requirements for funding election-office and Electoral Board operations. “We believe it is important for the state to honor its obligations and to send out a very clear and strong message that elections are a core function of government and will be funded as promised,” members wrote.
- Have political parties reimburse localities for costs associated with running primary elections.
- Establish a pilot program that would allow for fewer polling places to be open on primary elections, owing to lower turnout. Currently, all of a jurisdiction’s precincts must be open on Election Day for both general and primary elections, even when turnout is expected to be minuscule.
In addition, asks of the General Assembly include allowing a voter’s family member or someone living in the same household to deliver that person’s ballot to election officials.
State law permits only the voter to hand-deliver ballots to the elections office at City Hall, but allows someone other than the voter to drop the ballot into the dropbox located outside.
“The person a voter entrusts to deliver that ballot to a dropbox should also be allowed to deliver that ballot in person,” Electoral Board members said.
Another request: changing the deadline for receipt of mail-in ballots from the current noon on the Friday three days after election day to 5 p.m. on Friday to ensure ballots arriving Friday are counted.
While Falls Church has seen few problems in this regard, neighboring Arlington in a recent primary had to reject hundreds of ballots because they were delivered by postal carriers in the afternoon three days after the voting day.
Working with postmasters across the county, Arlington election officials were able to get mail delivered before noon the Friday following the Nov. 5 election.
Falls Church Maintains Existing Limits on Debt: Falls Church City Council members on Nov. 25 updated fiscal policies but decided to maintain the existing upper limits on accumulated municipal debt.
As a result, Falls Church will keep two cornerstone policies from the last time the policy was updated in 2018:
- Debt supported by the General Fund will not be allowed to exceed 5% of the total assessed valuation of property in the city. Currently, it stands at 2.75%.
- Annual debt-service costs will under most circumstances be required to remain below 12% of General Fund expenditures and “in no event” shall exceed 15%. The current rate is about 10%.
Falls Church maintains the top bond rating for a jurisdiction of its size — AAA — from the three main bond-rating firms: Fitch Ratings, S&P Global and Moody’s Investor Service.
Earlier this year, Fitch Ratings retained its AAA rating for the city’s general-obligation debt. Fitch analysts noted that the city and its government has a “level of financial resilience to manage through economic downturns.”
City Gears Up for Nation’s Birthday Bash: The Falls Church city government is kicking off its efforts to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday.
Council members on Nov. 25 made their first appointments to the Falls Church250 Committee, which has been tasked with developing plans surrounding the nation’s “semi-quincentennial” — the 250th anniversary of adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
Terms of the members will start Dec 1 and will run through early 2027. While no city funding has been appropriated, city officials are likely to support some birthday-related initiatives.
David Snyder was tapped to represent the Council on the panel. Other members include Maureeen Budetti (Arts and Humanities Council), William Ackerman (Recreation and Parks Advisory Board), Nikki Graves Henderson (Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation), Long Hoang (Vietnamese Literary and Artistic Club), Elise Bengston (Falls Church Chamber of Commerce), Christine Lee Buchholz (Welcoming Falls Church) and William Douthitt (Village Preservation and Improvement Society).
Additional members, including a representative from the School Board, are expected to be appointed later.
