Falls Church will be able to hold ranked-choice City Council elections as early as 2027, if current Council members want to make the switch.
The city is on track to acquire new voting equipment that would accommodate the ranked-choice format in time for the 2027 elections, city elections director David Bjerke told the Falls Church Electoral Board on Monday.
“We’ll start looking at it toward the end of this year [and] do procurement in early 2027,” Bjerke said.
The current voting equipment is a decade old, which is seen as the outer limit of its useful life.
Since 2021, Virginia localities have had the option to move from a first-past-the-post format to a ranked-choice alternative for governing-body elections. Arlington was the first jurisdiction to make the change for general elections in 2024.
Three of seven Falls Church City Council seats will be on the ballot in November 2027, with the other four having gone to voters in 2025. Council members serve four-year terms.
Council members have only informally discussed the possibility of switching to ranked-choice voting. State law gives elected officials the power to determine the format.
The need to elect multiple candidates in a single field, rather than in individual seats, could complicate the endeavor in Falls Church. The Arlington County Board race of 2024, which saw two positions on a single ballot, proved confusing to some voters, according to a post-election survey.
Arlington also uses ranked-choice voting for Democratic County Board primaries. In Falls Church, City Council members are elected on a nonpartisan basis, with no party primaries preceding the general election.
In other issues discussed at the Jan. 5 Electoral Board meeting:
Waiting on word of special election: Falls Church election officials anticipate a special election this spring related to congressional redistricting, although they’re not yet certain.
“We’re just standing by,” Electoral Board secretary Alan Wisdom said at the meeting.
General Assembly Democrats are expected to approve legislation in coming weeks to place consideration of a redistricting constitutional amendment on the ballot, likely in April. If voters approve, Virginia’s 11 House of Representatives districts would be redrawn in time for the Nov. 3 general election.
If redistricting is sent to and approved by voters, it’s possible — even likely — that the planned June primary for congressional and local offices could be pushed back to the summer. Alternatively, the June date could be retained for local-government primaries while a congressional primary could be held in August.
Electoral Board welcomes new member, chooses officers: Peg Willingham attended her first Falls Church Electoral Board meeting on Jan. 5, and immediately found herself elected chair.
“I am humbled and honored,” she said.
Willingham, a former aide to Rep. Jim Moran (D-8) and one-time chair of the Falls Church City Democratic Committee, was selected by Circuit Court Chief Judge Judith Wheat to succeed Renee Bergmann Andrews.
Andrews, who had served on the body for more than two decades, resigned after the November election as she and her husband were moving to Fairfax County. The circuit court makes electoral board appointments based on nominations — typically three names — submitted by the political party receiving the slot.
At the meeting, 2025 board chair Alan Wisdom was selected as 2026 secretary, while Art DeCelle retained his post as vice chair on the three-member body.
Wisdom and DeCelle are Republicans.
Under state law, the chair and secretary of each local electoral board must be of different political parties. The secretary typically has the most significant workload.
Until Dec. 31, each local electoral board in Virginia had two Republicans and one Democrat. With the election of Democrat Abigail Spanberger, that ratio will now flip — the next Republican whose term expires will be replaced by a Democrat on each of the bodies.
That already has happened in Arlington, where Republican Richard Samp, whose term expired Dec. 31, was replaced by Democrat Dave Leichtman. The Arlington Electoral Board will meet next week, when leadership posts will be divided up.
DeCelle is the next Republican on the Falls Church Electoral Board whose term will expire, but that won’t happen until the end of 2026. At that point, the city’s Democratic committee will present Wheat with nominations to fill the post.
Andrews took a lot of the board’s institutional knowledge with her, as DeCelle and Wisdom have only served a few years and Willingham is brand new.
“Renee had the long-term memory that none of us has,” Wisdom said.
“She leaves big shoes to fill,” Willingham added.
