Gov. Northam of VA Just Made Election Day a State Holiday

[George II]

Source: dailykos

Sunday April 12, 2020 · 4:33 PM EDT

RICHMOND, Va. (ABC7) — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Sunday that he has signed new legislation that expands access to voting in the Commonwealth.

The new bill repeals Virginia's voter identification law, makes Election Day a state holiday, and expands access to early voting, according to a release from the office of Gov. Northam.

Early voting will be allowed 45 days before an election without a stated excuse. The Commonwealth currently requires voters who want to vote absentee provide the state with a reason from an approved list, why they are unable to vote on Election Day.

Read more: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/4/12/1936652/-Gov-Northam-of-VA-Just-Made-Election-Day-a-State-Holiday

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A comment I saw on Twitter a few minutes ago:

Black voters in VA stuck with Northam a year ago.

Today, he delivered.

[turbinetree]

1. Sweet......................

[William769]

2. Kick & highly recommended.

[Sunriser13]

3. Way to go!

[meow2u3]

4. If only we could do this in Pennsylvania

Too bad we have a rethug legislature led by religious kooks from gerrymandered districts.

[ancianita]

5. All blue state governors should do the same. Unity.

[lagomorph777]

33. We MADE this a blue state, by SHOWING UP in the off-year elections (2017, 2019).

We can do this!

[ancianita]

34. Yes, we can!

[niyad]

6. KNR

[progree]

7. "The new bill repeals Virginia's voter identification law"

a big "good on that" too.

[pecosbob]

8. More important than the voting holiday IMO

[progree]

14. Ditto n/t

[lagomorph777]

32. Yes, and 45 days of "no excuse needed" early voting is EXTREMELY important in the COVFEFE-19 era.

We can vote without lines and excessive risk, even if the Russiapublicans kill the US Postal Service.

[Evolve Dammit]

9. Needs to be national holiday. Of course GOP will object. Cuts into their margin.

[Grins]

35. ...or on Saturday

My fear about a national holiday is that too many will see it as an excuse to have a 4-day weekend. And not vote.

[Evolve Dammit]

36. keep it on Tuesday? Of course GOP will oppose anyhting that increases turnout.

[Cha]

10. Yes, I remember Black Voters stuck with

Gov Northam and so did I.

TY, George.

[OnlinePoker]

11. It will be interesting to see how much this influences turnout. n/t

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

12. So exactly how many working people will actually get the day off?

Actually, the best thing is that they are going to have early voting, which is vastly more important than a holiday that will give only a tiny percentage of working people the day off.

[spooky3]

18. My guess would be all state workers and employees of any business that

Follows the state and federal holiday schedule. Northam gave up a holiday that celebrate two civil war figures, so any business that celebrated that holiday ought to be able to celebrate Election Day.

All of the changes will have positive effects.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

23. All state workers.

A minority of workers.

I am constantly enraged by how office workers do not understand the reality of the working life of those who don't work 9 to 5 with weekends and holidays off.

Election day as a national holiday benefits very, very few. Good advanced voting, or better yet good voting by mail will enfranchise far more.

I'm speaking as someone who never had a "normal" job, but always worked shift work.

[Hulk]

13. It should be a national holiday.....but good for VA

Smart move. Might be something governors have to do, since we have a Russian puppet in the White House currently.

[iluvtennis]

15. woohoo!

[Hiawatha Pete]

16. That's great news!

At the risk of stating the obvious, this should be the case in every state in order to combat voter suppression.

[Duppers]

17. This is great news!!

Love my governor. (And my son's former doc.)

[djacq]

19. Thank You My Governor.

Virginia residents can also apply for Absentee Voting;

[link:https://bluevirginia.us/2020/03/va-state-board-of-elections-voters-may-choose-reason-2a-my-disability-or-illness-for-absentee-voting-in-the-may-2020-elections-due-to-covid-19|

[mountain grammy]

20. We vote by mail in Colorado..

best way to vote.... the best way. But election day a holiday, great. State offices will close but nothing else. Early voting expansion is very good, and, for heaven's sake people, vote by mail!!

[Haggis for Breakfast]

21. We vote by mail here in Washington state, too.

You just KNOW that trumpie will be spitting mad about this.

[dflprincess]

22. It's a good idea but let's be honest,

how many people actually get state or federal holidays off? Many of us who work in offices still get Memorial, Independence, and Labor Days, as well as Thanksgiving & Christmas but a lot of workers, especialy in the service industry don't and fewer are getting Thanksgiving off.

[lagomorph777]

31. The holiday is symbolic. 45 days of early voting is the real action.

Thanks to previous Russiapublican legislatures, we had pretty crappy ID and voting rules. This will make a huge difference, especially in the age of COVFEFE-19.

[mahina]

24. That's how! Good job Gov

[DFW]

25. Northam deserves a statue somewhere!

One state down, 49 to go!

This is as revolutionary a step in defending democracy as any other taken since the Voting Rights Act. No longer in Virginia will working people have to fear reprisal or getting penalized for taking time off from work to vote.

No wonder the Republicans tried to get him "Frankened." Making it easier for everyone in a state to vote has to be the ultimate Republican nightmare.

[OnDoutside]

26. Amen.

[lagomorph777]

30. I can think of a few pedestals in Richmond that we could make some space on.

And there's plenty of scrap bronze on top of those pedestals right now.

[Sophiegirl]

27. That's my Gov.

[bucolic_frolic]

28. Really sad that we even had to pass this legislation to counter diminution of the right to vote

What does that say about the Republicans? I know, it ain't good.

[lagomorph777]

29. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! Yeah, baby!

This is why off-year elections matter! VA votes for Governor every 4 years, one year after the national Presidential election. Our legislative elections are also on the odd-numbered years. And for the past two cycles, we have showed up and kicked out Russiapublicans - finally flipped the legislature last year.

Now, we are going to have a dramatically better situation for voters! Even if the Russiapublicans kill the US Postal Service, we will be able to vote in a reasonable way - spreading the voting over 45 days will get rid of any waiting lines and reduce COVID-19 risk.