This story was originally reported by WHRO.
It’s not just names on ballots in Virginia this election season — voters will see at least one question.
Ballot referenda round out ballots and this year, voters across the state will consider changing Virginia tax law.
Most localities don’t have a local ballot question. But in Petersburg, voters will decide whether to approve a proposal for a $1.4 billion casino project to be built off of Interstate 95.
The full list of referenda is available to download from the Virginia Department of Elections website. If you don’t see your city or county listed, your ballot will only include the state referendum.
Constitutional amendment
Virginians will consider tweaking a tax rule that exempts surviving spouses of military servicemembers killed in action 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 Del. Kathy Tran, D-Fairfax, who carried the legislative version of the amendment.
Tran wrote on her website that 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 the 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.”
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