Kaine’s Proposal To Make Extending Voting Hours Easier

The icy conditions on roads throughout Northern Virginia on the afternoon/evening of Virginia’s presidential primary — February 12 — resulted in some people not being able to make it to the polls due to extremely long traffic delays. In response to the large number of voters not being able to make it to the polls, lawmakers were forced to realize that there was something wrong with Virginia’s current regulations regarding who can request an extension of voting hours.

Luckily, the Washington Post is reporting that Gov. Tim Kaine has asked members of the General Assembly to let the Chairmen of the political parties or officials from the State Board of Elections to start the process of extending voting hours in certain circumstances.

“The bill was put in as a direct response to the problems in Northern Virginia during the primary,” said Gordon Hickey, a Kaine spokesman. “A number of legislators and citizens asked the governor to introduce legislation to deal with the issue.”

Currently, the law allows only the campaigns involved in the election to ask a judge to extend the hours. The polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

“This year is the perfect example of why we need more flexibility in providing people the ability to vote and exercise their fundamental rights,” said Brian J. Moran (Alexandria), chairman of the House Democratic caucus. “There was a combination of higher voter participation and then bad weather which caused long lines, and some people were unable to get to the polls on time.”

I think this legislation has a good chance of being passed because there are many voters who are upset that they didn’t get the chance to cast their ballot, and I’m sure many members of the General Assembly have received letters from frustrated constituents about this issue. Then you also get the fact that some voters are also requesting that voting hours be extended in general from the current 7pm to 8pm.

At a town hall meeting last weekend, for instance, Del. Chuck Caputo was asked if he would be supportive of a possible extension of voting hours to help make it easier for people who face long commutes home to make it out to the polls. His response was that he’d have to see how the legislation was worded, but that he was supportive of the idea.

Furthermore, his quick response almost made it feel as though it was common sense that this was an idea that should at least be strongly considered. Obviously the details would have to worked out and there would need to be some coordination with the State Board of Elections, but encouraging participation in the electoral process was something Del. Caputo appeared to strongly believe in. This sentiment is shared by most of the General Assembly members and political activists that I interact with. The logical conclusion would therefore be that this current proposal, which simply makes it easier to extend voting hours when conditions require it, should be strongly considered as well.