In committee tomorrow is SB 3. The bill’s summary reads, “Provides that absentee ballots processed at a central absentee precinct must be sorted by the precinct to which the voter who cast the absentee ballot is assigned and that the resulting vote totals from such ballots must be reported separately for each voter precinct.”
As of now the procedure is an Absentee Ballot (AB) is counted and tabulated at the Central Absentee Voter Precinct (CAP) of the locality as a CAP vote. If your local precinct is Olde Creek, then your AB vote will be counted and listed in the total for Fairfax County’s CAP and not in the total for Olde Creek’s precinct. This would change that by showing the AB vote’s home precinct.
This is a very good bill. It will allow another layer of accountability to Absentee Ballots at no added burden to the voter. It will give map makers, politicians, and campaign operatives a better understanding of turnout in a specific community.
The bill already has bi-partisan support. Its chief patron is Republican Sen. Suetterlein, who is joined by Democrat Sen. Boysko, as well as Senators Chase and Cosgrove, as co-patrons.
This is a lay-up. SB 3 should pass tomorrow in the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee.
