The 2021 election season in Virginia has begun, with in-person primary voting underway.
They are mostly Democratic primaries this year; most of the Republican races will be decided in a series of remote conventions May 8, although there will be a few GOP races on the ballot.
Most of the changes to voting in Virginia adopted last year due to the pandemic are still in place, but there are a few differences. Here’s what you need to know.
In-person voting
Voting started April 23; the final day of voting, primary day, is June 8. Polls that day will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. If you are in line at 7 p.m., you will get to vote. If you are voting in-person before June 8, the hours vary. Check below for your county, city or town.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors adopted a balanced budget for fiscal year 2022 yesterday (Tuesday).
It includes some funding adjustments that the board incorporated into the proposed budget during the board’s markup session last week.
The newly adopted budget supports a 1% pay increase for county employees, a 2% raise for Fairfax County Public Schools employees, and 15% salary supplements for staff in the Office of the Public Defender and state probation and parole officers.
“While there were many constraints on this year’s budget, I am tremendously proud of what this Board was able to accomplish,” Board Chairman Jeff McKay said. “My goal was to look for balance in lowering the tax rate, with the understanding of skyrocketing property assessments, while also supporting our County employees and teachers and furthering our priorities in education, affordable housing, environmental protection, and community resources. I am pleased we were able to achieve that.”
UpdatedThu, Apr 29, 2021 at 3:26 pm ET
Reply
The Town of Vienna s May 4 election will decide three Town Council seats. (Emily Leayman/Patch)
VIENNA, VA On Tuesday, May 4, Town of Vienna voters will cast their ballots in the annual town election. Three Town Council seats are up for grabs, and four candidates are running.
Early in-person voting runs through May 1, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The early voting location is the Fairfax County Office of Elections, Suite 323, at the Fairfax County Government Center, 12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax, VA 22035. Voters who requested an absentee ballot by mail must have it received by the Fairfax County Office of Elections by noon on Friday, May 7.
April 29, 2021 at 11:00am
Fairfax County now has enough supply to vaccinate whoever wants to be vaccinated, the county health department announced yesterday (April 28).
This comes only a week after the county said there wasn’t enough vaccine to meet the new demand from eligibility expanding into with the move to Phase 2. Several days after that, vaccine appointments on Vaccine Finder still remained hard to come by due to the short supply.
But that has now changed, thanks to an increase in supplies at the state and federal levels, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay told Reston Now.
Plus, he says, there are now more providers giving vaccines including grocery stores and pharmacies as well as private practices.
Today at 9:30am
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors won’t approve a budget for the next fiscal year until May 4, but the bulk of the work to get to that final document will be done today (Tuesday) when the board meets at 10 a.m. to mark up the proposed budget.
Unveiled during a budget committee meeting on Friday (April 23), Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay’s proposed adjustments to the advertised fiscal year 2022 budget include a small raise for county employees and support for County Executive Bryan Hill’s recommendation of a one-cent decrease in the real estate tax rate.