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The Suffolk Electoral Council approved a Sunday voting day in October.
By a 2-1 vote, council decided at its September 14 meeting to allow advance voting in person for eligible city voters from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, October 24 at the voter registration desk. at 440 Market Street. ., first floor.
Board members Beverly Outlaw and Reverend Isaac Baker voted in favor, and board chair Erin Rice voted against.
At the 2021 General Assembly session, lawmakers voted to change the state code to give localities the ability to vote in person on Sundays. Previously, in-person postal voting was only possible from Monday to Friday and the two Saturdays before polling day. This year, polling day is November 2, and voters no longer need to provide an excuse as to why they will be absent on polling day to vote earlier.
Rice, voting no, said in an email that it is important to give time to the employees of the city registrar’s office, especially since the majority of them work part-time and work hard while throughout the year, especially during the election season.
“They constantly rise to the occasion and I strongly think it’s important to give these people a day off,” Rice said. “As it stands, these people will likely have to be in the office for more than three weeks at a time. Additionally, a majority of those who provided comments on the availability of the Sunday vote expressed a desire to oppose it due to all the other ways of voting. “
In an online poll, 28 comments opposed Sunday’s vote, while seven supported the proposal.
Those supporting the Sunday vote said access to the vote should be available in any way possible and that some people with non-traditional working hours or transportation difficulties would benefit.
Opponents of the Sunday vote cited several reasons. Among them: the vote should only take place on polling day, enough days are already available to vote, preserve the integrity of voters, provide a day off for employees, too much expense for taxpayers, and Sunday being a day for family and faith, not for voting.
According to the minutes of the August 3 council meeting, Baker called voter registration offices in the area to determine which ones would be open for the Sunday vote. Major cities such as Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Newport News and Hampton said they “were going to be open on a Sunday with minimum hours of operation, while counties were unlikely to be open on Sunday,” the minutes. Those who did not open cited a lack of need and that it was not financially feasible.
Chesapeake, Hampton and Newport News all offer a Sunday voting day in October, and Norfolk offers it two Sundays in October at satellite sites. Virginia Beach will also have a Sunday voting day in October, and it allows its eligible voters to cast ballots 24/7 until 7 p.m. on November 2 at a designated drop box.
Franklin, as well as the counties of the Isle of Wight, Surry and Southampton, do not offer voting on Sundays.
Residents of the city can also cast their ballots 24/7 at any of the three locations in the city until election day at the North Suffolk Library at 2000 Bennetts Creek Park Road in voter registration office at 440 Market St. and Suffolk Executive Airport at 1200 Gene Bolton Drive. These drop boxes are under camera surveillance.
In addition to Sunday voting day, early in-person voting is available at the voter registration desk from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday, Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 23 and 30. .
Eligible city voters who cannot or would prefer not to vote at their polling station on polling day can request a Virginia Vote app by mail by calling 757-514-7750 or going to www.elections.virginia.gov. The deadline for residents to request a ballot to be mailed to them is October 22. The last day for in-person early voting in Suffolk is October 30.
In-person voting will be available at polling stations across town from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on November 2, with social distancing observed and mask-wearing encouraged.
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