Local elections postponed to May 19

Town mayoral and council elections that were set for the first week of May have been pushed back to May 19.

Gov. Ralph Northam had urged the General Assembly, during its reconvened one-day session last week, to postpone the local elections to November — along with discarding numerous absentee ballots already cast.

Lawmakers rejected that idea. Friday, the governor exercised his statutory authority to delay the vote as long as he could, to May 19.

“This is the most challenging time in election administration that any of us have ever lived through,” Voter Registrars Association of Virginia President Allison Robbins said in the governor’s release.

Robbins, who is the Wise County registrar, added: “Registrars across Virginia are committed to ensuring that every election official feels protected while performing their duties on Election Day. Registrars are equally committed to ensuring the safety and security of all voters and ensuring that voters can cast their ballots with confidence that they will be counted.”

In a separate press release, Robbins strongly urged voters to request and vote an absentee ballot by mail. “Any qualified voter may request an absentee ballot using Reason Code 2A (disability or illness) even if they suffer neither.”

The last day to request that an absentee ballot be mailed to you is May 12 by 5 p.m.

The last day to vote absentee in person is May 16 by 5 p.m.

Because of stringent sanitation requirements at the polls, “we anticipate that voters who choose to wait till Election Day to vote will experience significant delays,” Robbins noted. “Election Day voters should expect to be asked to wait outside or to wait in their car until a safe location is available inside the polling place.

Town elections will take place May 19 in Clintwood, Clinchco and Haysi, with a three-way race for mayor in Clinchco.