Arlington voters will have access to nine 24/7 ballot dropboxes for the 43 days preceding each of this year’s three elections.
That was the net result of discussions held at the Jan. 9 Electoral Board meeting, where one of the two Republican members couldn’t get his colleagues to back a reduction in either the number of overall dropbox locations, or the number of days they will be available.
Richard Samp, the 2024 Electoral Board chair, had pressed for the three-member body to request that elections director Gretchen Reinemeyer either reduce the number of dropboxes to as few as three, or to limit their use in most cases to the 10 days in advance of at least the March presidential and June state primaries.
State law gives election directors decision-making authority on the subject, but guidance from the Virginia Department of Elections instructs them to consult with Electoral Board members before rendering a decision. Had Samp been able to sway Democrat Kim Phillip, fellow Republican Dominick Schirripa or both to his side, it would have been up to Reinemeyer to decide which way to go.
But neither Phillip nor Schirripa was interested in pursuing the matter, rendering it moot at least for 2024. Reinemeyer on Jan. 10 told the GazetteLeader she planned to move forward with all dropboxes being open for the entire period between two days after the start of early voting and the date of each election.
In a lengthy discourse explaining his views at the Jan. 9 meeting, Schirripa said that while nine dropboxes aren’t in his mind really necessary, there was little value in changing the status quo that has held sway over the course of four years.
Given the looming presidential election and massive turnout that is likely to result, “this is probably the worst year to make any change” on any extraneous issue, Schirripa said, encouraging his colleagues to “just stick with what we have.”
“The best year to make changes was last year,” when there were only local races on the ballot and turnout was low, he said.
(Schirripa was appointed to the Electoral Board last summer to succeed Scott McGeary, who resigned owing to a move out of the county.)
Phillip said she would be willing to consider reducing either the number of dropbox sites or the times in operation, but only after the presidential-election year has concluded and only if the data support cutting back. She didn’t like the prospect of cutting the number or hours of use for the 2024 primaries, only to revert back to full dropbox use for the general election.
“We need to be consistent,” Phillip said.
Making their cases at the Jan. 9 meeting were Arlington County Democratic Committee chair Steve Baker, who was in favor of retaining existing practice, and Frank Lusby, who has led the Arlington County Republican Committee’s voter-integrity effort and supports limiting dropboxes.
Lusby said Arlington’s proliferation of dropboxes was far in excess of most other Virginia jurisdictions, and might serve to undermine confidence among some in the election process.
“We really don’t need them,” he said.
Baker, however, said the effort to reduce the number of dropbox locations and/or cut back on hours was “a solution in search of a problem” and would not cut costs or increase ballot integrity.
Back-and-forth discourse over dropboxes has been a regular staple of Electoral Board meetings for the past two years. Given the result of the Jan. 9 meeting, Samp said he’d let the matter drop for now.
“This is hardly one of the major issues facing our Electoral Board,” he said.
