It’s not just names on ballots in Virginia this election season – voters will see at least one question.
Ballot referenda round out this year’s ballot and this year, voters across the state will consider changing Virginia tax law.
In Chesapeake, voters will also let leaders know how they feel about curbside recycling.
Most localities don’t have a local ballot question. If you don’t see your city or country listed, your ballot will only include the state referendum.
All voters will see a question about a Virginia constitutional amendment.
Virginians will consider tweaking a tax rule that allows surviving spouses of military servicemembers killed in action to be exempt from property tax.
The original rule was approved via ballot referendum in 2014.
But the wording excludes some families whose loved ones die in military-related accidents, said Northern Virginia Del. Kathy Tran, who carried the legislative version of the amendment.
Tran wrote on her website this makes tax relief for military families more equitable.
“We should recognize the broad scope of service and sacrifice made by our service members and their families,” she wrote.
“Service members who were killed in the line of duty, including in training or operational accidents, were serving essential roles defending our nation.”
This is what your ballot will ask:
Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended so that the tax exemption that is currently available to the surviving spouses of soldiers killed in action is also available to the surviving spouses of soldiers who died in the line of duty?
If you vote yes, you want to allow surviving spouses of servicemembers who died in the line of duty to get the existing tax exemption on their “principal place of residence.”
If you vote no, you’d like the state constitution to remain as it is, which currently says only surviving spouses of servicemembers “killed in action” can get existing tax exemptions on their “principal place of residence.”
Chesapeake voters will see a question about curbside recycling
Chesapeake ended its curbside recycling service in 2022 because it was becoming unsustainable.
There was immediate public outcry, and city leaders didn’t want to start charging residents for the service. (Chesapeake was the only city in Hampton Roads who had curbside recycling without charging an additional fee for it.)
Unlike the statewide ballot question, Chesapeake’s referendum is non-binding, meaning local leaders could ignore the results.
“The thing the referendum would trigger would be conversations with council about, ‘Here were the results of the referendum and here's how to move forward,’” City Manager Chris Price said in July.
It’s unlikely leaders will go against voters’ will. Virginia Beach leaders, for example, have stuck to the results of a nonbinding 2016 city referendum that rejected The Tide light rail extension from Norfolk to the Oceanfront.
If you’re voting in Chesapeake, this is what your ballot will ask:
Should City Council adopt an ordinance imposing a mandatory fee of up to $10 per month on all households that receive City trash service in order to re-establish curbside recycling for those households only?
If you vote yes, you’d like Chesapeake to start curbside recycling again for people who use the city’s trash service. Voting yes authorizes the city to charge people using the municipal trash service up to $10 a month to pay for curbside recycling.
If you vote no, you are indicating that you do not wish the City to re-establish curbside recycling services with the mandatory fee of up to $10 a month.
