This year, due to COVID-19, many American’s are choosing to have their voices heard in many ways, including through an absentee ballot. Absentee Balloting is safe and effective; your voice will be heard. While you will still be able to vote in person this year on November 3, below is important information on absentee voting in Virginia to ensure that all Virginians can safely exercise this important aspect of American civic engagement.
Absentee Voting In-Person
You can vote in-person absentee beginning today, 45 days before Election Day (Friday, September 18, 2020), and ending the Saturday before Election Day (Saturday, October 31, 2020). Before going to vote, you may wish to check your registration status or call your registrar’s office to determine the hours and locations that are open. You can find your registrar’s phone number here.
To vote early in-person:
Accessible equipment and/or curbside voting is available upon request. A phone number will be posted outside of the voting location that you may dial once you arrive.
Absentee Voting by Mail
You can also submit your “absentee vote by mail” application by mail, fax, or email:
After applying, you can check to see if your absentee application was received and processed by visiting the Virginia Department of Elections’ Citizen Portal.
Please note: ballots will be mailed out to applicants starting 45 days prior to the relevant election date, but not any sooner. This means that if you have already applied for your absentee ballot, it will be mailed to you no sooner than Friday, September 18, 2020.
After returning your ballot by mail, you can check to see if whether your ballot was received by visiting the Virginia Department of Elections’ Citizen Portal.
Special Federal ID Requirements for Certain First Time Absentee by Mail Voters
For persons who registered to vote in Virginia by mail, federal law requires them to show identification (ID) when voting for the first time in a federal election if they did not send a copy of one of these IDs with their voter registration applications.
Recent legislation has eliminated the differences in acceptable identification for in-person voting. Therefore, the special federal ID requirements only apply to certain absentee voters by mail who will be notified by a notice explaining the requirements sent with their absentee ballot.
Voters who receive a notice about these special requirements need to include a copy of any of the following types of ID with the voted ballot:
If the voter returns an absentee ballot by mail without a copy of one of these forms of ID, the absentee ballot will be treated as a provisional ballot and counted only if the voter provides a copy of ID to the electoral board by the deadline applicable to all voters.
Support Bristow Beat - Donate Today!