It's not over yet

Goochland’s electoral board held a special meeting on Thursday, June 27 to discuss ways to fix the disenfranchisement of more than 300 voters on both sides of the disputed portion of the Goochland/Louisa county line. Several people caught on the horns of this dilemma attended. Earlier this year, the Electoral Board, took action it believed mandated by state law to transfer citizens who formerly voted in Goochland to Louisa precincts, and vice versa. In all cases, the citizens continue to receive local services from the county in which they formerly voted and pay taxes.

The citizens so disenfranchised are justifiably furious. Some had considered running for office, only to learn that you must live in the voting district you want to represent. So, if, you are “electorally” in Louisa, you cannot be a candidate for an office in Goochland. Others declare that they pay taxes in Goochland and have a right to vote for those who impose, collect, and spend local taxes and that this action is taxation without representation.

Disenfranchised Goochland voters compare an 1863 detailed map with the new one.

On June 20, the Goochland Electoral Board sent a letter to Virginia Attorney General  Mark Herring requesting “..an official advisory opinion on the legality of removing registered voters from the Voter Registration Rolls of the county in which they are known to reside, to place them on the Voter Registration Rolls in an adjoining county where they are not residents.”

The letter goes on to recap instances of mis-assigned voters in the 2017 election and the effect it may have had on close races for members of the General Assembly,  one of which resulted in a tie that was decided by drawing a name out of a hat. This spurred a quest in the elections community for clarification and guidance on the matter. (See /www.goochlandva.us/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=337 on the county website for links to complete texts of all letters.)

Using historic maps in addition to a map with the mutually acceptable census boundary, Lind pointed out the disputed parcels, subject to anomalies that resulted in a vague “sneeze line” that did not follow boundaries established for census purposes.

In April, Manuel Alvarez, Jr., District 2, chair of the Goochland Board of Supervisors, which has no standing in the matter but nevertheless wants a resolution to allow citizen to vote where they pay taxes, sent a letter to the electoral board asking it to revisit its decision and to restore previous practices that allowed citizens who live in the disputed zone to vote where they pay taxes. Alvarez stated that Goochland and Louisa have agreed on a boundary and had submitted matching maps to the Census Bureau.

The red line is the census boundary. Misplaced Goochland voters are in blue, those from Louisa in yellow.

In June 2018, newly appointed Commissioner of the State Board of Elections, Chris Piper declared that the State Board of Elections has no statutory authority over voter precinct assignment and tossed the hot potato matter back to local electoral boards.

In the 2019 General Assembly Session 22^nd District State Senator Mark Peake, who represents both Goochland and Louisa, drafted and “carried” legislation to address the problem with SB 1102. This proposed a “patch” for the situation, which would have allowed local registrars, by mutual agreement, to determine residence for voting purposes. The applicable portion of SB 1102 follows:

§ 24.2-314. Review of voter assignment.

If a registered voter believes he has been incorrectly assigned to an election district or precinct, he may submit to the general registrar of the locality in which he is registered to vote, on a form prescribed by the State Board, a request for review of his assignment. Such request shall be submitted prior to the close of registration records pursuant to § 24.2-416. He shall submit with the request any information or evidence documenting his reasons for believing he has been incorrectly assigned to an election district or precinct. If the general registrar is unable to determine in which election district or precinct the voter should be assigned because of a discrepancy between (i) the boundary of the county or city in existence on April 1, 2011, and as reported by the United States Bureau of the Census in the 2010 Census reports provided pursuant to United States Public Law 94-171 and (ii) the boundary of the county or city recognized by the governing body of the county or city, the general registrar shall refer the matter to the governing body of any impacted county or city to determine, by mutual agreement, in which county or city the voter's residence is located. Upon resolution of the matter, the appropriate general registrar shall be promptly notified so that the voter's registration may be updated to change his assignment to the correct election district or precinct if necessary.

The Senate bill passed unanimously. Companion legislation in the House of Delegates, however, died in committee. When the General Assembly failed to pass the “patch” legislation, local registrars felt compelled to move voters. No one was happy about this turn of events.

Secretary of the Goochland Electoral Board, Robin Lind, said that he was very encouraged by a prompt response to the June 20 letter from Herring.

Lind said that the Electoral Board will act in defense of the best interests of affected voters but does not want to pit one county against another. He wants to set a joint meeting of the Goochland and Louisa electoral boards on July 9 to examine solutions to his problem that allow people to vote where they live. He said it might be possible for the Commonwealth to act unilaterally and pull the 97 voters moved from Louisa to Goochland back to Louisa. However, if Herring issues a dissenting opinion, voters could be whipsawed back and forth between jurisdictions. (Phone calls to Herring’s office at 786-2072 requesting that he issue a prompt favorable opinion will help raise awareness of the gravity of the matter.)

The ideal solution, said Lind, is to have a resolution so voters can stay put at least until after redistricting following the results of the 2020 census in 2021. The Electoral Board is working closely with our delegation to the General Assembly, Delegates. Lee Ware, 65^th District; John McGuire 56^th Disatrict; and Sen. Mark Peake, 22^nd District to have the Virginia General Assembly take up and pass the failed legislation during its special session next month.

Electoral Board Cahir Keith Flannagan observed that there are 75 days until the next hard deadline—the start of absentee voting—to find a solution to the issue.

Goochland County Administrator John Budesky also attended the meeting. He said that the Board of Supervisors, who can only write letters advocating a speedy resolution to the issues because it has no standing in the matter, has agreed to provide funds so that the Electoral Board can retrain its own attorney.

In the long run, both Goochland and Louisa have taken steps to ensure that the boundary between the two counties will be defined when redistricting following the 2020 census takes place.

Notice of the time and location of future meetings of the Electoral Board will be posted at ww.goochlandva.us/359/Voter-Registration-Elections.