State, local election officials tell Virginia subcommittee consolidation would ease some workloads but pose operational challenges

A Virginia joint subcommittee heard detailed testimony from state and local election officials on administrative effects of consolidating general elections into federal (even-numbered) years, including how the change would affect special elections, ballots, voting equipment, audits and voter experience.

The testimony came from Susan Beals, commissioner of elections for the Commonwealth of Virginia, and Eric Olsen, director of elections and general registrar for Prince William County and representative of the Voter Registrar Association of Virginia. Both warned lawmakers that consolidation would carry trade-offs: more time for statewide implementation and training, but greater operational pressure on election day and during early voting if many offices and referenda were moved to the same ballot.

Beals told the panel she prepared a multi-year chart showing how statewide, county, city, town and school-board offices would shift into federal election years and warned that moving offices to even years would not eliminate all odd-year elections. "Saying we're shifting everything to an even year doesn't necessarily mean you're not gonna have any elections in those odd years," she said, citing how other states still hold municipal or special elections in odd years. Beals noted there were "over 70" local special elections scheduled in Virginia in 2025 alone…