GET READY, GET SET FOR A FULL ELECTION SEASON

2012 will be particularly busy for voters--and consequently for the League--with as many as four elections on the calendar this year. The first contest is the presidential primary, scheduled for March 6, and consisting of those Republican candidates who have qualified to be on the Virginia ballot. March 6 is also the day that candidates for Falls Church City Council and School Board must file their declarations and petitions to run for office in the next local election on May 1. If needed, a second primary election for Democratic and Republican candidates for US Senate and House of Representatives will be held June 12. And, finally, on November 6, voters will go to the polls to select the next president of the United States, one of two Virginia senators, and the member of Congress representing Falls Church.

Among the challenges the League will have in educating voters are how the City will handle the open School Board seat for a remaining 1 ½-year term and the planned consolidation of the City's five wards to three. It appears that the special election for the School Board position vacated by Chairman Pat Riccards to become CEO of a Connecticut education reform organization will be held concurrently with the regularly scheduled City election in May. Approved by City Council last month, the plan to streamline Falls Church's polling places is now being considered by the US Department of Justice. When and if the new ward map is finalized, voters may find themselves voting in one ward for all four elections or in a new ward at some point in 2012.

The change in wards will mean yet another issuance of new voter registration cards with voters' new polling places; new cards were mailed to voters on the eve of the November 2011 election to reflect the City's incorporation in a new Virginia Senate District. Still another consequence of last year's redistricting remains to be settled: Falls Church may remain in the 8th Congressional District, now represented by Jim Moran, or the City could be included in another district, perhaps the 11th currently represented by Gerald Connelly. The state will have to determine which district represents the City prior to the June 12 primary.

Throughout this election season, the League of Women Voters of Falls Church will work to keep voters informed through its website, voter's guides published for the May local election and the November federal election, and a forum for City Council candidates that will be held April 19 and cosponsored with the Village Preservation and Improvement Society (VPIS). The LWVFC will also conduct voter registration events, beginning in February for the presidential primary (last day to register to vote is February 13) and continuing through April for the City elections (April 9), May for the June primary (May 21), and October for the November election (October 15). The League will remind voters when and where to vote, and how to vote absentee in person and by mail.

LWVFC ADOPTS POSITION ON ARTS AND CULTURE IN FALLS CHURCH

The Falls Church League has completed a new local study on arts and culture in the City. Members are encouraged to read the study, review the consensus questions, and read the resulting League position on arts and culture in Falls Church.

AFTER MAY 2012, FALLS CHURCH CITY ELECTIONS WILL MOVE TO NOVEMBER

On Tuesday, November 8, voters approved the change in date for local elections for Falls Church City Council and School Board from May to November, beginning in 2013. The City will hold one final local May election next year on May 1, 2012.

In addition, voters elected incumbent Democrat Richard L. Saslaw to the Virginia State Senate, incumbent Democrat James M. Scott to the House of Delegates, and Democrat Theo K. Stamos as the new Commonwealth's Attorney, serving Falls Church City and Arlington County. Please click here for the unofficial results of the November 8 General and Special Elections from the Virginia State Board of Elections.