THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 1, 1996 TAG: 9602010001
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
If you want a loud voice in local government, vote ``YES.'' If you want just a tiny squeak, vote ``no.''
The wording of a proposed Virginia Beach ballot initiative to ask voters whether they want to switch from an at-large to a ward system of municipal government is not quite that blatant. But almost.
Critics charge that City Council, which presumably wants to maintain the status quo, has carefully worded the ballot question to influence its outcome.
At stake is whether Virginia Beach will continue to have a City Council and School Board elected from the city at large, with seven members living in and representing the seven boroughs, and another four serving at-large. A ward system would allow only residents of each borough to vote for that borough's representative.
We oppose a ward system. They tend inevitably to increase divisiveness and to emphasize narrow self-interest over the good of the community as a whole. We do, however, favor fair ballot initiatives that help voters understand the choice they are being asked to make without slanting the matter one way or the other.
The wording of the ward question, as it stands now, leaves no doubt where the framers stand on the issue and how they want voters to vote. Drafting ballot questions in such a way as to influence the outcome is not democratic.
Later today the State Board of Elections, which has already voiced some concern about the language, will examine the wording of the proposed question. In the interest of fairness and clarity, we think the language ought to be modified.
How much simpler to ask: ``If you want to retain the current at-large system of electing City Council and the School Board, vote YES. If you want to switch to a ward system of electing City Council and the School Board, vote NO.'' by CNB