Senator Pulled Bill Proposing Ranked Choice Voting for Presidential Primaries, State Not Ready...Yet

On Tuesday January 31st, Senator Creigh Deeds pulled his bill, SB 1380 from the Privilege & Elections Committee consideration. He explained that he had been contacted by the Commissioner of Elections, Susan Beals, about the bill. The State Election Department is not quite ready for an option for parties to use Ranked Choice Voting / Instant Run-Off statewide...Yet! The State Election Department has been asked for a letter providing more details about readiness.

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The remaining bill in the Virginia General Assembly proposing RCV, Delegate Bloxom's HB 2301, was identical to Senator Deeds bill. It will likely not be heard this session.

Please consider thanking Delegates Hudson, Bloxom, and Davis and Senator Deeds for sponsoring legislation expanding Ranked Choice Voting to more elections.

The State will be able to help localities administer local elections using RCV, for City Council or Board of Supervisors. The first use will be in Arlington in June, for Board of Supervisor primaries.

What does this mean for Virginia advocates for RCV? We can now shift our focus away from the General Assembly session and get back to our local campaigns! Let us know if you would like to hold an information session in your city or county.