1 Polling Place To Change, Ward Boundaries Adjusted In Falls Church

FALLS CHURCH, VA — Boundaries for two voting wards will be adjusted, and one polling place will be changed in the City of Falls Church after City Council approval Monday. The changes are expected to take effect in time for the June 20 primary election.

Falls Church City Council approved the removal of Falls Green Apartments as the polling place for Ward 2 and moving the polling place to Falls Church Community Center. The community center is also the polling place for Ward 3, but voting areas for the two wards will be separated within the location as required by Virginia law.

In addition, the boundaries of Ward 3 will get smaller to better balance populations of the wards. The removed part of Ward 3 will be moved to Ward 2.

The Falls Church Electoral Board and Registrar David Bjerke requested the ward boundary and polling place changes.

As Bjerke explained at a previous City Council meeting, boundary changes would reduce the number of voters in Ward 3. According to Bjerke, Ward 1 has 3,615 voters, Ward 2 has 3,232 voters and Ward 3 has 4,211 voters. Per Virginia code, wards cannot have more than 5,000 voters, but best practices in Virginia call for wards under 4,000 voters.

As for the polling place change, Bjerke said the Falls Green Apartments polling place is already small and would be even smaller as boundary changes would increase voters. A city report also noted concerns with Falls Green, such as "poor lighting, untimely unlocking of doors, and inadequate space for a large turnout election."

Bjerke explained that it is common in Virginia for gyms like the one in the Falls Church Community Center to host multiple polling places.

"Across the Commonwealth gyms are used for two or more polling places, because they do have usually about 5,000 square feet in them, and a polling place needs about 1000 square feet," said Bjerke. "So they would put dividers through the gym in order to maintain separate areas for the voting. It is very common across the Commonwealth."

The election office must mail notices of ward boundary and polling place changes to impacted voters at least 30 days before the June 20 election. Bjerke is also seeking to mail notices before early voting begins on May 5. The mailings will only go to voters in the new Ward 2 boundary, as they are the only ones impacted by the polling place and boundary changes.

The city's June 20, 2023 Democratic primary election will include races for the 37th Virginia Senate District and Commonwealth's Attorney for Arlington County and City of Falls Church. Not all 2023 elections will have primaries.

General elections scheduled for Nov. 7, 2023 are 37th Virginia Senate District, 13th House of Delegates District, three Falls Church City Council seats, three Falls Church School Board seats, Commonwealth's Attorney for Arlington County and City of Falls Church, and Arlington County Clerk of Court.