Council Defers Taking Action on Plan to Consolidate Voting Districts

City of Falls Church City Council voted unanimously at Monday night’s council meeting to defer taking action on an amendment that would downsize the number of voting districts in the city from five to three.

Council will hear discussion on the amendment at a Dec. 5 work session and again on Dec. 12. Vice Mayor David Snyder, one of the five council members who voted in favor of deferring any action, said he would like to allow Falls Church City Public Schools a chance to respond about possibly closing schools on election days.

“I want to make sure the comments we received are responded to individually,” Snyder.

The Office of Voter Registration & Elections , trying to rid the city of the original 5-ward voting plan in place now. The proposed plan would save money for the office, shorten voter wait times, provide more efficient use of existing voting equipment and provide an increased level of service to city voters. If the voting locations were changed the office would have to mail out new voter registration cards to every registered voter within city limits. Under the proposed plan, , the and the would be the only places registered voters could go on Election Day.

David Bjerke, general registrar, said he’s not sure if the delay in taking action on the amendment will further delay the move. He said he is willing to work with the council, who is the only group that can change the polling locations, as long as it takes. If there were action taken to approve the amendment, it would have to be approved by the Department of Justice before the November 2012 presidential election.

“It may cause some issues,” Bjerke said of council deferring action on the amendment. “We’re not sure of the total ramifications of this.”

Mayor Nader Baroukh wants to make sure that if the polling locations are going to be changed everyone has been heard and everything has been addressed. Baroukh and others questioned how this move would affect the polling site at Jefferson Elementary with more voters coming into the school. City officials want to make sure there won’t be an issue with crowding in the school and parking.

“I don’t see this as one of these things we have to do now,” Baroukh said to Monday’s crowd. “I don’t think it’s a bad thing if we have one or two more voting cycles first.”