Bills that would ease Virginia’s restrictions on early voting and political clothing at polling places are beginning to arrive in Richmond, a month after a presidential election that saw record voter registrations and turnout.
Four bills filed in the last two months would allow any registered voter to cast a ballot as many as 19 days before the election. Virginia now only allows those who qualify for absentee ballots to vote in person before Election Day.
And at least two lawmakers have proposed legislation that would remove the state’s blanket ban on political attire at polling places, a ban now the subject of a lawsuit by three free-speech groups.
Del. David Englin, D-Alexandria, said his bill is designed to distinguish between outright campaigning at the locations and simply wearing clothes with political messages on them.
He criticized the current ban as absurd, and a violation of constitutional free speech protections. In the November presidential election “this rule would allow you to wear a T-shirt with Osama Bin Laden on it, but it would not allow you to wear a T-shirt with Barack Obama or John McCain on it,” he said.
The Virginia American Civil Liberties Union, the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression and the Rutherford Institute sued Virginia this week on behalf of plaintiffs in Richmond and Fairfax County, asking a federal judge to overturn the ban.
“In terms of a long-term solution, it’s much better to clarify the issue through the [state] code rather than something that gets litigated in court,” Englin said.
A State Board of Elections spokeswoman could not be reached Friday.
More than 400,000 Virginians registered to vote in the Nov. 4 presidential election, which brought out a statewide turnout of 3.7 million voters.
Lawmakers return to Richmond Jan. 14 for the 2008 legislative session, which promises to be dominated by a budget crisis brought on by the faltering economy.
