Online Survey Now Available to Virginia Beach Residents to Share Input on Local Election System

On behalf of the City of Virginia Beach, the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia (CCPS) invites residents to share their input on and experiences with our local election system. This is part of Virginia Beach City Council's efforts to collect resident input on city policy and decision making prior to determining how future elections will be conducted in our community, beginning with the 2024 elections. A link to the survey is available at SpeakUpVB.com in the Election System Community Engagement Project.

CCPS has structured the survey to ask questions related to various components of voting and election systems to better understand respondents' preferences. As part of their analysis and preparation of the report to City Council, CCPS will compile the survey results (capturing resident support for individual election/voting components) and community feedback, along with the recommendations from their legal team that identify viable, fully defined election system options.

In addition to the online survey, 4,500 randomly selected residents received a hard copy of the survey in the mail. The Cooper Center devised this sample selection to create a scientific, probability-based representation of the population of Virginia Beach. However, City Council wants to hear from as many residents as possible and has asked for the online version to extend the survey's reach.

Residents are encouraged to complete the survey, which is available in English, Spanish and Tagalog, before it closes on Friday, May 26. The results will be compiled by the Cooper Center and presented to City Council at a later date this summer.

To request a hard copy of the survey, contact Community Engagement Strategist Nancy Bloom, nbloom@vbgov.com, at (757) 385-6279. All hard copy surveys must be received by May 26 in order to be processed and provided to CCPS for inclusion in their report.