THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 4, 1996 TAG: 9602030101
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 13 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
The State Board of Elections is challenging a ballot question the City Council drafted late last year asking voters if they want to change the city's electoral system.
The three-member board decided Thursday that the wording for the May ballot initiative violated state law. It will ask the Virginia Beach Circuit Court to reconsider a December decision in which the court concluded the council was within its legal rights to draft the question.
``We are mandated by law to make sure elections conform to Virginia election law,'' M. Bruce Meadows, secretary of the State Board of Elections, said after the meeting. ``We're saying it does not conform with Virginia election law and that's why we're going to take it up in court.''
The board took issue with the second part of the ballot question, which is more of a statement than a query, Meadows said.
Supporters of a new electoral system in the city have argued since the council approved the question that the wording was biased against them.
The question is drafted so that voters have to vote ``no'' if they want to change the system and ``yes'' to keep it the same.
For the moment, the ballot question reads:
``Should the city council member elected to represent a particular borough be elected by all qualified voters throughout the city (an at-large system) rather than only by the qualified voters residing in that particular borough (a ward system)?
``If you wish to vote for all 11 council seats, vote YES! If you prefer to vote for only 5 of the 11 council seats, vote NO!''
Under the current system, seven of the 11 council and School Board members are considered ``borough representatives'' and must live within their boroughs, although they are elected by voters citywide.
Under the proposed new system, the seven district representatives would only be elected by the residents of their district. The mayor and the other council and School Board members would continue to be elected at-large.
Supporters say this modified ward-system would increase elected officials' accountability to residents of their districts. Opponents say it would discourage council and School Board members from considering the interests of residents citywide.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH ELECTORIAL SYSTEM BALLOTT ELECTION by CNB