Politics & Government
City Council Approves Ordinance to Reduce Voting Wards
The City Council unanimously voted in favor of reducing the city's number of voting wards from five to three Monday night.
The City of Falls Church City Council and Mayor Nader Baroukh voted unanimously to approve an ordinance to reduce the number of voting wards from five to three during Monday night's council meeting.
The approved ordinance will eliminate the polling venues located at the Scout House on South Spring Street and the American Legion building on North Oak Street.
The city will now await for approval of the ordiance from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Virginia State Electoral Board.
Find out what's happening in Falls Churchwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The new proposed wards would evenly distribute the number of voters in the City of Falls Church among each ward, with less than 3,000 registered voters per ward.
It would also address the current unbalanced distribution of voters, which allocates more than 2,500 voters to Ward 1, and less than 1,900 voters in each of the other four current voting wards.
Find out what's happening in Falls Churchwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Some council members expressed concern for the polling venue that will be utilized at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, which is currently being renovated. Representatives from the Falls Church Electoral Board assured them that construction at the school will not be an issue for voters in 2012.
"The Board has discussed with the School Board the possibility of closing schools on election day," said David Bjerke, elections general registrar.
"The Electoral Board has also contacted [Superintendent] Dr. Toni Jones about construction at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School. She is more than willing to work with us and keep us updated throughout the progress of the school and election year," Bjerke added.
If the voting ward reduction is approved by DOJ and the State Electoral Board, voters can expect to start using the new polling districts as early as the statewide March Republican presidential primary elections.
Curbside voting for handicapped voters was also suggested by council member Robin Gardener.
"I've sort of come full circle with this," Baroukh said prior to the council vote on the ordinance. "I had some concerns in the beginning about it but through the efforts, and I thank the electoral board for all their hard work they did in getting the information and getting our education out there and educating the council, this is something that I'm going to support."
