Oh, the power of voting locally.

Since the 2016 election, left-leaning voters in Virginia have been fired up, and have been winning state legislative (and executive) seats. They made huge gains in 2017 and then finally flipped both chambers of their state legislature in 2019 to make the state a trifecta, along with their Democratic governor.

Since they gained control of the government, the Democrats got to work on expanding voter rights. Earlier this week, Governor Ralph Northam signed into law several voting rights measures, including:

• making Election Day a state holiday
• repealing the strict Voter ID law
• adopting Automatic Voter Registration
• eliminating the need for an excuse to vote absentee
• transitioning elections to paper ballots
• extend the hours on Election Day by 1 hour
• allowing any ballot that is postmarked on Election Day to be counted, as long as it is received within 3 days of Election Day

This is what Gov. Northam said as he signed the bills:

“Voting is a fundamental right, and these new laws strengthen our democracy by making it easier to cast a ballot, not harder. No matter who you are or where you live in Virginia, your voice deserves to be heard. I’m proud to sign these bills into law.”

I couldn’t agree more. I hope that many people will see these incredible voting rights reforms in Virginia and will redouble their efforts to help more Democrats win their elections at the state level.

For more, read:
Democrats Are Getting Serious About State Legislatures

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Tags: absentee voting, act locally, Automatic Voter Registration, Explainers, featured, local elections, state legislatures, Virginia, vote by mail, voter ID, voting rights, Voting Rights Act