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Election primer: four offices and constitutional amendment on the ballot in November

The next election scheduled for the City of Richmond will be a general and special election on Tuesday, November 4, 2014. The polls will be open from 6:00 AM to 7:00 PM.

The deadline to register to vote in this election is Tuesday, October 14, 2014. The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot through the mail is October 28, 2014. The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot in person (with limited exceptions) is Saturday, November 1, 2014.

Photo ID is now required to vote at your polling place or in person absentee voting. Acceptable forms of photo ID include: valid Virginia Driver’s license; DMV issued photo ID; valid United States passport; valid employee photo ID; other government issued photo ID; and, valid Virginia college or university student photo ID.

The ballot in this area will have:

• U.S. Senate,
• U.S. House of Representatives (3rd),
• special election for the Virginia State Senate (16th),
• special election for Clerk of Court, and
• proposed amendment to the Virginia Constitution.

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U.S.Senate

Incumbent Mark Warner (D) is being challenged by Ed Gillespie (R) and Robert Sarvis (L).

Former governor Warner is the senior Virginia senator, having held the office since 2009.

Gillespie served as Chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2003 to 2005 and as the Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia from 2006 to 2007. Gillespie also acted as Counselor to the President under George W. Bush.

Sarvis is an attorney, businessman, politician and software developer. In 2011, he ran for the Virginia Senate as a Republican, losing to Democrat Dick Saslaw; after the election, Sarvis switched to the Libertarian Party. He was the Libertarian Party of Virginia’s nominee for Governor of Virginia in the 2013 election, finishing third behind Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Ken Cuccinelli.

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House of Representatives (3rd)

In what should be the last election before redistricting, Robert “Bobby” Scott (D) is running unopposed. Congressman Bobby Scott has held the seat since 1992. This will be the 6th time that Scott has run unopposed; none of his 5 challengers have managed more than 31% of the vote.

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Senate of Virginia (16th)

Rosalyn Dance (D) and Preston “Famous” Brown (I) are vying for the seat vacated by Henry Marsh. Brown garnered 21% of the vote in a 2011 challenge to Marsh for the same seat.

According to Richmond Sunlight: Of the 39 occupied seats (counting Marsh), only 5 of the Senators are black. Of the 39, only 5 are women. Of the 39, only 2 are black women. Of the 39, 29 are white men.

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Clerk of the Court

Edward Jewett and Emmett Jafari are the 2 candidates in this special election to fill the position of Clerk of the Court.

Edward Jewett has worked in the Clerk’s office for 30 years and won the 3-way Democratic primary in June with 66% of the vote

Jafari has previously unsuccessfully run for the 8th district school board seat in 2000, sheriff in 2001, mayor in 2004, sheriff in 2005, and clerk of the court in 2011.

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Amendment to the Virginia Constitution

From the Virginia Department of Elections:

Thus, a “yes” vote on the proposed amendment will make effective legislation exempting from real property taxation the principal residence of the surviving spouse of any member of the armed forces of the United States who was killed in action. A “no” vote will leave the present Constitution unchanged.

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sample ballot