Virginia has one of the longest early voting periods in the country. And it's here to stay.
Republicans have an affordability agenda that Democrats are rejecting – saving money by scaling back Virginia's 45 days of early voting. Senator Christie New Craig is a Republican from Chesapeake who introduced a bill that would pare down early voting to 15 days.
"Back in the day, we used to have the October surprise, and now we pretty much have to have the August surprise. Or when there is an October surprise, sometimes it's too late to cast a vote," New Craig says. "And as a candidate, I like to be out there and meet my voters whether they vote for me or not, I still represent them but I can't be out there and miss work for 45 days plus be in this part time General Assembly."
Senator Mark Peake is a Republican from Lynchburg who introduced a bill that would reduce early voting to 10 days, and he says all those days of early voting add up.
"However many days we have for the April-May election, whenever we do for congressional, August. And then 45 days for the November election. We might end up with 180 days of voting," Peake says. "That will be something. And it's really too much of a burden"
Both of those bills were rejected by a Senate Committee this week.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
