Get AI Briefings, Transcripts & Alerts on Local & National Government Meetings — Forever.
Electoral board recommends small, non‑expressive tents at new registrar facility; council directs staff to codify guidance
Loading...
Summary
The Virginia Beach Electoral Board told council it supports limited 10x10 canopies at the new registrar building to provide shade and storage for volunteers, but recommended strict limits on signage and placement; council signaled support and asked staff and the city attorney to craft an enforceable administrative directive.
The Electoral Board told the City Council it recommends allowing small, non‑expressive tents at the new voter registrar facility to give volunteers shade, a place to store belongings and a brief respite during long shifts. "We thought it was something simple, and then we realized that it wasn't quite as simple as we thought it was going to be," Electoral Board chair Nanette Miller said, describing observations from recent elections.
Members of the board proposed reserving discrete 10‑by‑10 canopies for party chairs to manage, with an alternating allocation and a requirement that tents not be used as messaging platforms. "It's a place to get out of the sun, get out of the rain," Miller said, adding that the chairs had agreed to take responsibility for upkeep and civility at those tents.
Council members asked detailed questions about where tents would be sited, whether they could block sidewalks and how staff would enforce rules. One councilmember pointed to a persistently low, muddy area at the north entrance and urged identifying dry, accessible sites; the board acknowledged the site has flooding and that some tent areas would need landscaping or drainage fixes.
City Attorney Mark Styles cautioned about constitutional limits. "The legally most conservative thing is to prohibit any signs and etcetera," he said, urging content‑neutral language so any rule would be defensible. Styles recommended that if the city allows tents it define the areas, require that the tents be used only for respite and storage, and ban expressive activity within those tent zones when legally required.
Council members asked staff to revise the administrative directive to reflect the board's operational recommendations — including alternating allocations, a requirement that volunteers collapse tents nightly, and explicit language prohibiting signage attached to canopies. City staff said they would work with the city attorney and the voter registrar to draft updated administrative directive language and circulate it for comment before finalizing.
The council did not vote on an ordinance at the meeting; members signaled they were comfortable directing staff to move forward with an administrative directive based on the electoral board's recommendations and to return with language for review. The registrar's office will distribute the revised directive to campaigns and party chairs once it is finalized.
