McDonnell to push bills to ease overseas voting, revise attire restrictions

RICHMOND

Attorney General Bob McDonnell today announced he will push a package of election law reform bills intended to ease voting for overseas military members and citizens, loosen restrictions on political attire worn at polls by voters and shorten lines on Election Day.

Many of the proposals were at the center of public debates in the days and weeks prior to the Nov. 4 election, grabbing headlines and in some cases, prompting lawsuits. McDonnell’s office, as the law firm for the state, was required to wade into several of those legal scuffles.

“Certainly eliminating litigation is a good goal,” McDonnell said today on a conference call with reporters. “And making it easier for voters to avoid hassles at the polls, to stand in shorter lines and not to worry about what (they’re) wearing.”

McDonnell said his bills would:

• Require overseas absentee ballots to be mailed to military members and citizens by local voter registrars within three days of a ballot request being received. A lawsuit filed by John McCain’s presidential campaign in November alleged that election officials in several localities failed to mail ballots to overseas votes early enough to allow them to be returned and counted by Election Day.
• Clarify state law to make it clear that voters are permitted to wear political T-shirts, stickers, hats, buttons and other paraphernalia at polling places. State election officials determined that such attire was not allowed at polls a few weeks before the November election. The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia has filed suit to overturn that ban.
• Create additional polling places to reduce long voting lines. He noted that some voters were required to wait two hours or more to vote on Nov. 4. In the weeks leading up to the election, several election groups criticized Virginia as being ill-prepared to deal with a crush of voters at the polls. One of those advocacy groups joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in a lawsuit against the state.

Other legislation McDonnell proposes would clarify residency status for the purpose of voting, which became a sticking point in some localities where college students sought to register; and the creation of a new election officer position to help at the polls as they close.

McDonnell has not proposed an early voting bill. Early voting is available in several other states and a number of legislators have publicly said they will push for Virginia to adopt a similar practice in 2009.