CHESAPEAKE, VA – The GOP-controlled City Council of Chesapeake is poised to vote this evening on an early voting plan that would eliminate Sunday early voting and would cut at least two early voting locations, both of which operated in 2022 in majority-minority regions.

In anticipation of the VA GOP restricting voting access in yet another Virginia locality, DPVA Voter Protection Director, Aaron Mukerjee, issued the following statement:

“The VA GOP leadership in Chesapeake is pursuing a course of action that will make it more difficult for Virginians to vote. The locations that the Republicans seek to eliminate are located in the heart of the Black community of Chesapeake. This action will unambiguously make it harder for Black Virginians to cast their ballot, and is unmistakably voter suppression.

The Democratic Party of Virginia is calling on the City Council of Chesapeake to abandon their plan to shutter these early voting sites and eliminate Sunday voting. As Democrats, it’s our job to make sure that the right to vote is protected for every Virginian, and that voting is easy and as secure as possible.”

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