HomeMy Public PortalAboutTOL PR 2010-09-15 election date
Town of Leesburg
News Release
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Betsy Fields
Research & Communications Manager
bfields@leesburgva.gov
703-771-2734
Council to Seek Public Input on Moving Town Elections
to November
Leesburg, VA (September 15, 2010) – The Leesburg Town Council will hold a public input
session to discuss moving town elections from May to November. The public input session will
be scheduled for a future Council work session.
The Town Council first broached the subject of moving town elections late last year, but
delayed further discussion until after the May 2010 elections. Proponents of moving the
election date to November are hopeful that aligning the town elections with county, state and
national elections will increase voter participation in the town races. In the May 2010 election,
voter turnout was less than 2%. As a comparison, voter turnout in the Leesburg District (which
encompasses areas outside the Town limits) for the November 2009 general election was over
30%. Opponents of moving town elections to November express concern that the traditionally
non-partisan town races will become partisan and that the town races will be overshadowed by
county, state and national issues.
If the Town Council does decide to move forward with changing the town election date to
November, both the Town Code and Town Charter would need to be amended and the change
would have to be submitted to the Department of Justice for pre-clearance. The next town
elections are scheduled for May 2012.
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