I was one of the many people who flocked to Alexandria’s Election office on Royal Street on Sept. 18, when it kicked off 45 days of no-excuse voting for the first time. The waiting period was a brief 15 minutes, not like the 3 or 4 hours in some cities and states. The workers were most efficient as they moved us through the process. There was none of the sense of panic and paranoia that has been trumpeted by the White House to “fear the fraud in this election.”
I felt a sense of almost euphoria as I fed my ballot into the electrical voting machine (with a paper back-up!) and knew it would be counted. At that moment, I saw democracy was working for me, for my city and for my country. And I encourage as many of my fellow Alexandrians to “vote early” as is possible, just for the peace of mind it gives you. When I hear the President say he wants to “throw out the ballots,” it makes me feel more like I am living in Belarus or in Russia, not the USA.
A huge round of applause -- if not a standing ovation -- goes to the Blue Wave that took over Virginia’s electoral revisions this year. Instead of making up silly excuses, you can just show up and vote early. The person who helped spearhead this revolution was Del. Eileen Corn-Filler, who in 2020 became the first woman in the over 400 years of Virginia’s legislative body to become Speaker of the House of Delegates and the first Jewish person to hold this title. She was joined in this leadership effort by Del. Charniele Herring, House Majority Leader, who had a few “firsts” of her own, including being the first African American person to hold that title. And they also capped off their achievements by helping to make Virginia the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, during the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment to allow women to vote. (Unfortunately, the US Senate is still holding this bill hostage and denying the necessary ratification.)
Let us hope this right to “early voting” in Virginia is firmly enshrined in our state’s laws, and not subject to any partisan whims in the years to come. The Republicans in the General Assembly should now embrace the goal to improve access to voting for all eligible people, and to make that process as easy as possible.
This is the first time in 25 years that Democrats have held the majority in both houses and that’s why reformation of voting rules and regulations became possible. Going forth, let’s make this a bipartisan goal.
Kathleen M. Burns
Alexandria