Making ranked-choice voting permanent and potentially banning campaign signage on local rights-of-way top the agenda for County Board members’ meeting this weekend.
Other items scheduled for discussion at the Saturday meeting include an $8 million contract for Wilson Blvd street improvements, a $5 million contract for a culvert replacement on N. Dumbarton Street and a hearing on relocating the Madison Community Center’s early voting site during renovations there.
Ranked-choice voting: The ranked-choice voting method for County Board elections has been in place for the last two years, but on a temporary basis. Action to be considered Saturday would make the format switch permanent, unless a future County Board rescinds the action.
A public hearing on the matter will be conducted at the meeting. Board members will have the option to make a decision then or defer until a future meeting.
Using powers delegated by the General Assembly, Arlington was the first Virginia jurisdiction to move to ranked-choice voting for its governing-body elections. To date, only Charlottesville has followed suit — for City Council primaries, but not general elections.
Other localities, including Falls Church, are considering the implications of making the change.
State law currently limits the ranked-choice format to governing-body races. Under the format, if no candidate receives an absolute majority of No. 1 votes, low-performing candidates are eliminated and their votes are reassigned as instructed by voters until someone emerges with a majority.
All other general-election races use the more traditional format, in which the candidate with the most votes wins, regardless of the total.
The format switch has not impacted final results over the past two years, as Democrats Julius “JD” Spain, Sr., and Takis Karantonis won absolute majorities in successful 2024 and 2025 general-election campaigns. Spain received 58% of the vote, and Karantonis got 65%.
Ranked-choice voting is also used in Arlington’s Democratic County Board primaries, where it has had more of an impact on final results during the three years it has been in use.
In 2026, the Democratic County Board field currently is set at just two — incumbent Matt de Ferranti and challenger James DeVita. If no other candidates emerge for the primary, the ranked-choice format likely would be rendered moot, unless there was a heavy write-in vote.
The general-election County Board field has yet to gel. Republicans, third-party candidates and independents have until June 16 to complete all filing requirements.
At the same March 14 meeting, Board members will hold a public hearing and potentially vote on changes to the county’s zoning ordinance that would ban all non-government signage, including political signs, from county medians.
County staff support the proposal, which they say is acting in line with restrictions in place in various other Northern Virginia localities. But DeVita has criticized it as an attempt to muzzle public outreach by candidates not supported by the Democratic establishment, and has threatened to take the matter to court if it is enacted.
While private signage on medians may be banned, county signage would be exempt.
The zoning change would also affect some other signage regulations, most related to commercial areas. Those changes have not drawn significant public opposition.
Final phase of Wilson Blvd street improvements approach: Board members are expected to approve a contract of up to $8.19 million with Sagres Construction for Phase 3B of Wilson Blvd street improvements.
The project would include new curb gutters and wider sidewalks, stormwater upgrades, new crosswalks, traffic signal upgrades, streetlights, signage, street trees and paving from N. Kenmore Street to 10th Street N. and on 10th Street from Fairfax/N. Jackson Street to N. Ivy Street.
The work would also include undergrounding the overhead Dominion, Verizon and Comcast utilities. It is the final phase of the Wilson Blvd improvement project, 17 years after the first phase of the project was completed.
Sagres was the low bidder among the three firms competing for the work. Its bid was 21% higher than the county’s initial estimate due to the complexities involved, county staff said.
The overage will be covered by shifting additional funding from the Underground Utility Fund and approximately $2 million from existing projects within the Rosslyn–Ballston Arterial Street Improvements Program, county officials said.
As a result, there likely will be a delay in starting one or more future intersection-improvement projects in the corridor, officials said. [Item #14]
Culvert replacement set for N. Dumbarton Street: Board members are expected to approve a contract worth up to $5.05 million with Fort Myer Construction Corp. for culvert replacement on N. Dumbarton Street.
The culvert was damaged in a 2017 storm. The project would expand capacity and modernize infrastructure.
Fort Myer Construction was the low bidder among seven firms vying for the contract. [Item #13]
Temporary precinct, early-voting relocation set for hearing: Board members are expected to set an April 16 public hearing to relocate both the polling place and early-voting site currently located at Madison Community Center during renovation work at the center.
County officials have proposed relocating Precinct 135, currently at the community center, to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 4250 N. Glebe Road. This is 0.6 miles from the community center.
County officials have also proposed relocating early-voting activities usually housed at the community center to Langston-Brown Community Center, located three miles away at 2121 N. Culpepper Street.
Both changes would not take effect until after the April 21 statewide referendum on congressional redistricting. They will start for the August state primaries and continue throughout renovation of the community center, which is expected to conclude in late 2027.
County election officials solicited input from voters in the 2025 general election about possible new locations, and also received input from the Old Glebe Civic Association. [Item #28]
