In Virginia, local and statewide elections are held in odd-numbered years, when there’s no presidential or congressional race on the ballot—which means people in the Commonwealth vote every year, unlike Americans living in the vast majority of other states.
Last year, the Virginia General Assembly formed the Joint Subcommittee to Study the Consolidation and Scheduling of General Elections to explore whether the Commonwealth should align its elections with the federal calendar.
“UVA’s Karsh Institute of Democracy helped this effort by conducting research for the joint subcommittee as part of its process in determining whether to recommend election consolidation,” said Director of Research Jessica Kimpell Johnson, who built and led a multidisciplinary team of scholars, staff, and student researchers. “As a pan-University unit, we are uniquely situated to identify experts across Grounds and build collaborations to execute this kind of work.”
“As a pan-University unit, we are uniquely situated to identify experts across Grounds and build collaborations to execute this kind of work.”
The team included experts in law, political science, and survey research, as well as students from UVA School of Law’s State and Local Government Policy Clinic. Together, they produced a wide-ranging study that combined a review of political and social science literature, a comparative analysis of other states’ practices, a statewide survey of Virginia residents, and original interviews with local government administrators and registrars.
“The General Assembly studied this issue in the late 1970s and didn’t act on their research,” said Andrew Block, who was part of the research team and is a UVA law professor and director of the State and Local Policy Clinic. “With the information they had available, they concluded that consolidation would make sense from a policy perspective. But here we are, approximately 50 years later, asking the same question again.
“With the information they had available, they concluded that consolidation would make sense from a policy perspective. But here we are, approximately 50 years later, asking the same question again.”
“The members of the General Assembly, and other state legislators like them, who are often tasked with making decisions like these that impact democracy and participation, often lack the kind of research support that a university like UVA can provide,” Block said. “This project was a great chance for us to help meet that need. It was also a chance for some law students in my clinic, and others across Grounds, to use their time and talents to contribute to this important policy discussion.”
In July, at the subcommittee meeting where the research team presented its findings, assembly members were engaged and asked the team questions for about an hour. Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax County), majority leader of the Virginia Senate, called the report “comprehensive and interesting,” adding, “I think it will be very useful for us figuring out what we want to do here.”
In addition to Virginia, there are only four other states that have not aligned state and federal elections: Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Jersey. As part of the work, the team also researched what happened in other states that have consolidated their statewide or local elections.
“Election consolidation tends to increase voter turnout, and that was clear across almost all of the examples or cases that we examined,” said Kimpell Johnson.
Another component of the research was to survey what Virginia residents themselves would think about aligning state and federal election calendars so that their representatives could better understand broad sentiment.
“I’m drawn to the firsthand perspectives of the public,” said Kara Fitzgibbon, director of the Center for Survey Research at the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. “We would be losing sight of a fundamental aspect of elections and democracy if we did not include the views of everyday people.”
“We would be losing sight of a fundamental aspect of elections and democracy if we did not include the views of everyday people.”
Respondents across parties reported they would be more likely to turn out, both in the general election and in primary elections, under consolidation. Among the groups most likely to go to the polls were young people, those with children in the home, low-income residents, and racial minorities.
The survey results showed majorities from both political parties supported consolidation, which was one of the survey’s notable contributions.
“In an era where nearly every issue seems politically polarizing, I was surprised that support for consolidation in Virginia is bipartisan,” said Fitzgibbon. “And this finding is consistent with the existing social science literature on the topic.”
The study also included interviews with election administrators and local government officials, which surfaced concerns about aligning state and federal election cycles because it could further nationalize state and local races, shifting focus away from community-level or statewide issues to national topics.
“I was struck by how strongly held the officials’ views were,” said Fitzgibbon. “I was immersed in the data and heard compelling arguments on both sides, yet I’m still not sure where I personally stand on consolidation as a Virginia voter.”
“I was immersed in the data and heard compelling arguments on both sides, yet I’m still not sure where I personally stand on consolidation as a Virginia voter.”
Fitzgibbon and the rest of the team aimed to produce quality research, without a vested interest in the outcome.
“Our goal was to provide answers to what the subcommittee asked, plus to any other worthwhile questions we discovered along the way,” said Block. “Based on what we gathered, we presented the pros and cons of consolidating Virginia’s elections in as neutral a way as possible.”
In early August, the subcommittee voted 5–4 to recommend consolidation, but procedural rules prevented it from proceeding. Other members could still introduce a measure in the future, but it would require an amendment to the Virginia Constitution.
Whether Virginia ultimately shifts away from its off-cycle tradition remains an open question, but subcommittee members walked away with a clearer picture of the issues at stake. Higher turnout will be weighed against the risk of nationalization of state and local politics, and the practical burdens of implementation weighed against the civic upside for bipartisan majorities of residents who were in favor of consolidation and reported they would be more likely to engage under a simplified election calendar.
Whatever path the Commonwealth ultimately takes, the Karsh Institute’s research gives Virginia lawmakers a stronger foundation for understanding the key questions and evaluating the trade-offs involved.