Crew members of the soon-to-be-commissioned USS Arlington have been informally adopted as county residents. And now, they’ll enjoy some voting privileges, too.
The more than 300 crew members will be able to cast ballots in the county’s annual competition to select a design for the car-tax decal. The four finalists among this year’s entries, created by local high-school students, all feature the U.S. Navy ship as the central theme.
The commander of the ship, which is slated to be commissioned in Norfolk in early April, asked whether the crew could be allowed to vote as a way of boosting morale and building rapport between the ship and its namesake community. The request was approved by county Treasurer Frank O’Leary, who oversees the decal competition.
Navy officials also plan on placing a sticker in the windshield near the captain’s chair on the ship, much like county residents must do on their vehicles.
Voting will be open through Jan. 21 via the county government’s website at www.arlingtonva.us/treas. The winning design will be announced at the end of the month, and will begin appearing later this year on approximately 155,000 vehicles.
