Virginia Moves To Make Election Day A State Holiday By Removing The Holiday Honoring Confederate Generals

Richmond’s CBS News affiliate reports:

The Virginia Senate passed a bill that would eliminate Lee-Jackson Day as a state holiday in favor of making Election Day a state holiday. Celebrated on the Friday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day each January, Lee-Jackson Day honors Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.

SB 601, introduced by Sen. Louise Lucas [photo], passed the Senate with a vote 22-18. It will now go to the House where Del. Joe Lindsey introduced a similar bill. Both bills would designate Election Day, the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, as a state holiday and remove Lee-Jackson Day as a state holiday.

The governor is expected to sign the final bill.