VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Virginia Beach NAACP announced they will be holding a town hall meeting next week to make sure Virginia Beach residents' rights are protected.
This comes after the Virginia Beach City Council announced a series of meetings where they are looking for residents' input in the new 10-1 voting system.
Previously, the city used an at-large system where Virginia Beach citizens could vote for every candidate who ran for city office and school board members, regardless of their district.
A court order allowed the city to use a 10-1 system in last year’s election, meaning residents can only vote for candidates running in their district. The switch had some voters at the polls confused.
Reverend Eric Majette, the president of Virginia Beach's NAACP, said they are dedicated to clearing confusion and detailing the current system to Virginia Beach residents.
“While there are several actions the city should take to make voting easier and more efficient, such as budgeting additional money for more election officials, expanding early voting sites, adding voting machines and accommodating Sunday voting, taking us back to a system that the courts deemed discriminatory is not one of them," Majette said.
The NAACP town hall will take place on Tuesday, March 21, at Ebenezer Baptist Church, located at 965 Baker Road in Virginia Beach at 6:30 p.m.
The city also set up a series of virtual and in-person meetings at multiple locations in partnership with the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia. To read the full list of meetings, click here.