Comments Document

See attached statement.

My name is John LoGalbo, and I am the Chair of Voter Protection for the Loudoun County Democratic Committee. This statement is made on my own behalf and does not reflect a position of the LCDC or the Voter Protection Committee. I fully support Delegate Reaser's bill to vest local governing bodies with the responsibility to set the dates and hours of operation of satellite offices for early voting - or what is referred to in the Code as "absentee voting in person." It's fairly clear what may have prompted Delegate Reaser's proposal: the recent decision of the Loudoun County Electoral Board to completely eliminate two weeks of weekday voting in two satellite locations in the eastern portion of the County. The Electoral Board has since partially reversed its decision, after pointed and harsh criticism from members of the community and from a majority of members of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors. As a practical matter, the satellite office in western Loudoun had more limited availability than the two satellite offices in eastern Loudoun. The Electoral Board claims that its original decision was not based on partisan politics, but rather on the "principle" that each of the three satellite offices for early voting in the County should have dates and hours of operation that are equivalent. This "principle" flies in the face of the fact that there are many more thousands of voters in eastern Loudoun than in western Loudoun. It is no coincidence that eastern Loudoun is a very heavily Democratic area, while western Loudoun is heavily Republican. Despite their protests to the contrary, it seems obvious that the two Republican members of the Electoral Board's decision to "equalize" the voting dates and times in all three satellite locations was intended to reduce the availability of early voting times in the Democratic area of the County. Local governing bodies already have the authority under the Virginia Code to determine the location and number of satellite offices for early voting. It is not a radical proposal to vest those bodies with the authority to determine their dates and hours of operation, especially when partisan majorities on local Electoral Boards are liable to disadvantage certain voting districts for political motives. I urge you to support Delegate Reaser's amendment to the Code to accomplish that purpose.

Weekend voting hours are really important for my husband. He is a teacher in a private school and does not have election day off. Because of his teaching schedule, it is often very difficult to make it to the polls in time to vote. I am also usually scheduled to work all day and evening on election day making it difficult to vote on the day of. Because of this, he and I make a plan to vote early and, again, because of our work schedules, weekend voting is often the only time that we are able to attend. I know for many voters in our area, they face the same difficulties. Having a location nearby (in Sterling) that has weekend hours is imperative to provide equal access for voters like us. Please protect equal voting rights by passing this Bill.

Please vote in favor of this bill as 2 people almost disenfranchised thousands of voters in Loudoun County by shutting down one of our early voting locations that typically votes more Democratic than Republican. These two individuals have continually not published agendas within the appropriate time frames and meet on Tuesdays from 1-3 in the middle of the work day for most constituents so most of us cannot show up to speak. This is disenfranchisement on top of disenfranchisement and we need oversight of these two individuals. No one should be trying to decrease voting. Please vote in favor of this bill. Heather Gottlieb

I am commenting in support of HB 1490 which will provide greater support for localities to expand early voting locations if they want more than what the Board of elections has designated. This is critically important in my county, where our recent board of elections attempted to severely restrict early voting access to Eastern parts of the county, where there is significant density of voters. Voting access is of critical importance to ensure voting equity in localities and I support this effort to increase access.