Northam asks to postpone May elections

April 10, 2020

Gov. Ralph Northam has asked the General Assembly to postpone municipal and other elections set for May 5 as another measure to fight the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

All Wise County towns have council elections scheduled for May 5 and some will be electing mayors separately.

Northam announced Wednesday afternoon his proposal to move all May elections to the Nov. 3 general election. If the legislature agrees with his proposal, all absentee ballots already cast for May elections will be discarded, and those voters would need to vote again in November. Also, elected officials whose terms are set to expire June 30 would continue in office until their successors are elected in November and qualified to serve.

Further, the governor exercised his statutory authority to reschedule June primary elections from June 9 to June 23.

Contacted Thursday, Wise County Registrar Allison Robbins said local preparations for the May 5 elections will proceed as planned for now.

Unless there is a schedule change, lawmakers won’t act on the governor’s proposal until they convene April 22 in Richmond for the 2020 legislative veto session. That would leave only 13 days before elections are now set to take place.

Robbins said as of Thursday, these absentee ballots had already been cast in town elections:

• Appalachia, 44.

• Coeburn, 28.

• Pound, 18.

• St. Paul, 53.

• Wise, 14.