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Virginia Beach light rail opposers say they have enough signatures for ballot referendum

Posted at 12:44 PM, Mar 04, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-04 12:44:43-05

Virginia Beach, Va. – Virginia Beach City Treasurer John Atkinson says his “No Light Rail in Virginia Beach” group has collected more than the required number of signatures to put a light rail referendum on the November ballot.

To get a question put on the ballot in Virginia Beach, you must get around 16,500 signatures (approximately 25 percent of voters that participated in Virginia Beach’s last General Election).

Atkinson says that after collecting about 4,000 signatures at polling places on Super Tuesday, they now have about 20,000 signatures total.

The signatures will need to be verified and that’s why Atkinson says they’re still collecting. He’s hoping to have around 23,000 by July when he turns them in.

The ballot question would read, “Should the City of Virginia Beach spend local funds to extend Light Rail from Norfolk to Town Center in Virginia Beach?”