City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: JUNE 7, 2017
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
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Introduction and First Reading. Consideration. Passage on First Reading of an Ordinance to Add the Station at Potomac Yard as a New Polling Place With Associated Changes in the Cora Kelly, Mt. Vernon and George Washington Precinct Boundaries.
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ISSUE: Consideration of an ordinance to establish Potomac Yard as a new voting precinct with associated changes in the Cora Kelly, Mount Vernon and George Washington precinct boundaries, and to designate the Community Room at the Station at Potomac Yard (650 Maskell Street) as the polling place within the Potomac Yard precinct.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council pass on first reading and set for public hearing, second reading and final passage on June 24, 2017 an ordinance (Attachment 1) to establish Potomac Yard as a new voting precinct with associated changes in the Cora Kelly, Mount Vernon and George Washington precinct boundaries, and to designate the Community Room at the Station at Potomac Yard (650 Maskell Street) as the polling place within the Potomac Yard precinct.
BACKGROUND: The Alexandria Electoral Board, which is comprised of three bipartisan members who are appointed by the Alexandria Circuit Court for staggered three year terms, is responsible for making recommendations to City Council concerning changes in precinct boundaries and the establishment of new precincts and polling places. City Council has the statutory authority to make these changes.
In making its recommendations to Council, the Electoral Board is primarily concerned with ensuring that precincts conform to legal requirements, are a manageable size, have suitable voting facilities and those voting facilities are fully accessible. The Electoral Board monitors any changes in the availability of polling place facilities and also considers the current number of registered voters, in-person turnout statistics, the size of the voting facility and any likely residential development within the precinct.
The Electoral Board has determined that a new voting precinct is needed to accommodate continuing growth in the Potomac Yard area and to reduce the size of the Cora Kelly, Mount Vernon and George Washington precincts.
DISCUSSION: On May 18, 2017, after a public meeting in the Community Room at the Station at Potomac Yard, the Alexandria Electoral Board voted unanimously to recommend that City Council make the following changes to the City’s precinct boundaries and polling places effective with the passage of the attached ordinance (Attachment 1) so the adjustments are in effect prior to the November 7, 2017, General Election.
1. Establish Potomac Yard as a new voting precinct created from parts of three existing precincts, Cora Kelly Rec Center, Mount Vernon Rec Center, and George Washington School. A new precinct in Potomac Yard is critical to accommodate current voters and absorb future growth resulting from continued residential development in this area of Alexandria.
• Currently the three existing precincts are among the largest in the City-each one has between 4,400 and 4,900 active voters. Moving some of these voters to a new precinct at Potomac Yard will result in precincts with fewer voters making it more convenient to vote and reducing wait times.
• According to State Law (§ 24.2-307 of the Code of Virginia), at the time a precinct is established, it shall have no more than 5,000 registered voters and no fewer than 500 registered voters. (Precincts may grow to over 5,000 voters as long as the number of Election-Day voters does not exceed 4,000.) Currently, the proposed Potomac Yard precinct would have over 1,500 registered voters.
• As shown on the attached maps and chart (Attachment 2, 3 and 4), the proposed precinct boundary changes will result in the following transfers of voters:
• 534 active voters will move from Cora Kelly to Potomac Yard.
• 660 active voters will move from Mount Vernon to Potomac Yard.
• 363 active voters will move from George Washington to Potomac Yard.
• The proposed changes will not affect any legislative districts nor will they split any census blocks. Voters in the new Potomac Yard precinct would remain within Virginia’s 30th Senate District and 45th House of Delegates District, and within the City’s School Board District A. In addition, the recommended adjustments to precinct lines follow “clearly observable boundaries” (in this case - named streets and railroad tracks) as required by State law.
2. Designate the Community Room at the Station at Potomac Yard (650 Maskell Street) as the voting place within the Potomac Yard precinct.
• The Station at Potomac Yard is a residential community owned by the Alexandria Housing Development Corporation (AHDC) and managed by S.L. Nusbaum Realty Co. AHDC is a non-profit housing developer with a stated mission to develop and preserve quality housing that is affordable.
• The Electoral Board inspected the Community Room at this facility with its staff and the Community Manager, Dawn Reed, on April 19 and May 1, and determined that this space was suitable for voting in terms of size, location, accessibility and parking.
• The Electoral Board made a formal request to AHDC to use this facility as a polling place pending approval from City Council and AHDC approved this request on May 11.
• According to State law (Section 24.2-310.1 of the Code of Virginia), polling places are to be located in public buildings whenever practical, however, no public facility was available in this precinct. Staff looked at other facilities in the area and found that this was the only facility with a suitable space. Staff also considered the Fire Station at Potomac Yard but staff determined that the Community Room at the Station at Potomac Yard would interfere less with the operation of the Fire Station and would be a more suitable polling place.
• The Electoral Board contacted Fire Chief Robert Dubé to make sure he had no concerns over the location of the polling site. He indicated that he did not expect any problems as the public entrance to the community room does not pass through the fire station. He will, however, let his staff know to expect potential visitors.
TIMING OF THE CHANGES: The Electoral Board recommends that Council make these polling place changes effective with the passage of the ordinance so adjustments will be in effect for the November 7, 2017, General Election. Turnout is expected to be very high for this November’s election, and Cora Kelly, Mount Vernon, and George Washington School precincts are near capacity.
If City Council approves this ordinance, the Electoral Board will send notification by first class mail to all affected voters during the summer of 2017. Although only one notice is legally required, staff recommends that a second notice be sent to voters prior to the November 7, 2017 General Election as an added measure to ensure that voters are aware of the precinct changes. Staff will also have maps at Cora Kelly, Mount Vernon and George Washington to assist voters who are affected by the change and will work with the City’s Communications staff to ensure that the public is adequately informed about this new polling place and the associated changes in precinct lines.
OUTREACH AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: Before bringing its recommendations to Council, the Electoral Board solicited input from stakeholders, including neighborhood associations and community organizations, and invited them to attend a public meeting at the Station at Potomac Yard on May 18 to discuss precinct plans (see Attachment 5 for a list of the invited groups). Details of the proposals have been posted on the City’s web site, and information was shared via press releases, Facebook and Twitter.
Prior to the public meeting, the Electoral Board received several emails from voters supporting the proposal. Some comments praised the increased convenience for voters, others noted it could add to the area’s sense of community. Individuals who attended the public meeting also supported this proposal.
The Electoral Board received one inquiry from a resident about accessibility of the new polling place. Staff thoroughly inspected the facility to ensure that it complies with all accessibility requirements provided by the Virginia Department of Elections and staff will take any measures necessary to ensure that the facility is fully accessible to all voters.
Staff received no negative comments from the public concerning this proposal.
FUTURE CHANGES IN PRECINCTS AND POLLING PLACES: The Electoral Board continually monitors precincts and polling places to ensure that they adequately support the voting process. Current areas of study include:
• The West End. Several West End precincts have large numbers of registered voters and if the Electoral Board can identify suitable facilities to recommend as polling places, it would be beneficial to reduce the size of these precincts. To date, the Board has not been successful in its search.
• Lee Center. Continued residential development in the Eisenhower East area will necessitate a new precinct to relieve pressure on Lee Center and be more convenient to residents along Eisenhower Avenue.
• 2020 Census. The General Assembly will likely freeze all precinct boundaries in February, 2019 in preparation for the 2020 Census, so if changes are needed to accommodate expanded residential development prior to the 2020 Presidential Election, the changes must be finalized within the next 20 months.
A list of citywide registration counts is attached (Attachment 6).
FISCAL IMPACT: No additional voting equipment is required; however, it will cost approximately $3,000 to send two notifications to all the affected voters and prepare precinct maps and other materials announcing these changes. This amount will be split between the FY17 and FY18 budget years and can be accommodated within the budget for the Office of Voter Registration and Elections.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Proposed Ordinance
2. Map of Proposed Boundary Changes (detail)
3. Map of Proposed Boundary Changes (overview)
4. Before and After Registration Counts
5. Groups Contacted in Public Outreach
6. Citywide Voter Registration Counts
STAFF:
Members of the Alexandria Electoral Board
Anna Leider, General Registrar
Eric Spicer, Elections Administrator
Angela M. Turner, Deputy Registrar
Moe Abu-Rabi, GIS Analyst II, Information Technology Services
James Banks, City Attorney
Robert Dubé, Fire Chief