University of Virginia Library

Disenfranchising
The University

The man who represents the City of
Charlottesville in the Virginia House of
Delegates is important to the University. He is
in a position to insure that the City and
University get the minimal consideration
when State funds are allocated.

Two weeks ago Armande Paxson, a
Democrat, resigned as Charlottesville's
Delegate for business and personal reasons
after nine years in Richmond. The local
Republicans chose Joseph W. Wright, Jr. to
run for the vacated seat; the Democrats
nominated Thomas J. Michie, Jr. Governor A.
Linwood Holton, who has the power to set
the election date, consulted his party's
nominee and picked Tuesday, December 29 as
the day for balloting.

It seems to us as if partisan politics took
precedence over democratic reason in this
case, because by choosing December 29
Messrs. Wright and Holton have effectively
disenfranchised several thousand voters in a
city where in the past few years critical
elections have been lost, and won, by under a
hundred votes.

The voter turnout in this election will
undoubtedly be small. Many citizens,
including members of the University
Community eligible to vote, will be away for
the holiday period. But an even more
significant number of citizens will miss this
chance to vote because those between the
ages of 18 and 21 have to wait until January
before they can cast a ballot in any election.

Perhaps Governor Holton wanted to have
the new man elected prior to the special
session of the House which begins on January
6. We believe, however, that Mr. Paxson
would have willingly served a few more weeks
in office to allow his successor the chance to
be elected by a representative number of his
constituents. It is no secret that the
Republicans have wanted a delegate from
Charlottesville for many years now. Although
they have a perfect legal right to use the
power to set the election date to achieve this
goal, we think that other considerations are
more important in choosing a date for voting,
if we are going to claim that we live in a
democracy.

There is no doubt in our minds that a
majority of those who will be too young to
vote or out of town on the election day prefer
Mr. Michie over Mr. Wright.

In any event, we urge those who are
eligible to vote but who will be out of town
on December 29 to go down to either City
Hall or the First Federal Savings and Loan
Association and fill out an absentee ballot.
The last day for casting an absentee ballot is
December 24.