The Richmond Free Press has an article this week on Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring’s announcement this past Tuesday that he agrees with a federal lawsuit seeking the temporary suspension of the state’s current requirement that voters casting mail-in ballots have someone present as they open the letter containing the ballot and sign the envelope in which the ballot is returned.

The Virginia American Civil Liberties Union and the Virginia League of Women Voters celebrated the decision – “We are thrilled that today’s agreement means voters will not bear the burden of finding a witness for their absentee ballots during a global pandemic,” said Deb Wake, president of the League of Women Voters of Virginia. “We are optimistic the judge will rule favorably so that Virginia voters do not have to choose between their health and their vote.”

At the same time other groups have expressed concern about the possibility of voting by mail becoming the standard during the pandemic. The California Republican Party is suing Governor Gavin Newsom to prohibit the practice of ballot collecting or “ballot harvesting” during two upcoming special elections in the state, arguing it stands “in direct conflict” with social distancing guidelines and Newsom’s shelter-in-place mandate to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Just to the north, the state of Oregon continues to use mail-in voting exclusively.

But lest you think this is just about battling voter suppression or usual political corruption, recognize that many independent voting rights activists have their own concerns and are lobbying for any VBM (voting by mail) to be ‘temporary’ with safeguards put in place to somewhat minimize fraud and disenfranchisement. So, the debate over VBM is most likely going to intensify, pandemic or no pandemic.

Furthermore, this community news site has steadfastly advocated for ranked choice voting (RCV) and will continue to do so, especially as we see American election pressures mount. If Virginia is going to risk voting by mail this year, why not also implement ranked choice voting at the same time? As Fair Vote Virginia has noted, Governor Northam has already signed bills allowing some RCV to proceed. Use emergency powers during the pandemic to give voters more voice!

But getting back more to this week’s developments… of course, what the Democratic Virginia Attorney General and the Democratic Party-leaning ACLU and League of Women Voters have not concerned themselves with is good ol’ fashioned ballot access during this pandemic. They have ignored the Green Party of Virginia’s appeal to waive the petition of qualified voters requirement for ballot access in light of the Governor’s declaration of a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Collecting ballot petition signatures requires close physical contact on the part of both voters and petitioners and the state burdens ‘independent’ or ‘minor party’ campaigns with collecting these petitions, while exempting ‘major party’ candidates. And if you think this is just a state Green Party problem, consider how local campaigns are desperately struggling with these requirements. Some Oregon Hill neighbors have already tried to help Mayoral candidate Justin Griffin with signature by appointment. Electoral reforms like VBM and RCV can only help so much to improve voter choices if candidates are thwarted by ballot access (but perhaps that is the plan by the PTB,’Powers That Be’).

Circling back to the Richmond Free Press… it had this short thought in their editorial section- Something to think about.