Voting in Virginia

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Information about Voting in 2013

Election Dates Voting in 2013 Primaries • Voting on November 5, 2013 Poll Opening and Closing Times Absentee voting • Early voting  Open Primary • Closed Primary • Blanket Primary  • Online voter registration in the 50 states

This page has information relating to voting in Virginia. For full information contact your state election agency.

Registration

Virginia uses an open primary system, meaning voters are not required to declare a party preference when registering to vote.

To vote in Virginia, you must meet the following requirements:

• Be a resident of Virginia (A person who has come to Virginia for temporary purposes and intends to return to another state is not considered a resident for voting purposes)
• Be a U. S. Citizen
• Be 18 years old (Any person who is 17 years old and will be eighteen years of age at the next general election shall be permitted to register in advance and also vote in any intervening primary or special election)
• Not be registered and plan to vote in another state
• Not currently declared mentally incompetent by a court of law
• If convicted of a felony, your right to vote must have been restored

When and where

Registration forms can be obtained at any of the following locations:

• Local voter registration office
• Online
• State or local government offices when applying or recertifying for Aid to Dependent Children, Food Stamps, WIC, Medicaid, or Rehabilitation Services
• Government offices in the State that provide State-funded programs primarily engaged in providing services to person with disabilities
• Armed forces recruitment offices
• Public libraries
• State Board of Elections office
• Department of Motor Vehicles offices
• Voter Registration Drives

The deadline for registering is 22 days before any primary or general election or 13 days before any special election.

Online registration

See also: Online voter registration in the 50 states

Virginia passed legislation in 2013 authorizing online voter registration, but a system has not yet been implemented.

Voting on election day

For persons who registered to vote in Virginia by mail, federal law requires them to show identification 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. Virginia law requires all other voters to provide identification at the polls. Voters without acceptable identification are required to cast a provisional ballot that is only counted if a copy of proper identification is delivered to the local electoral board by noon on the Friday following the election.

Poll times

See also: State Poll Opening and Closing Times

In Virginia, all polls are open from 6:00 AM to 7:00 PM, Eastern Time.

Proposed Changes

The 2013 Virginia General Assembly passed two bills that require all voters to present photo identification to cast a ballot. The bills eliminate the use of a utility bill, pay stub, bank statement, government check or Social Security card as acceptable identification.. Voters without photo identification are required to cast a provisional ballot that is only counted if proper identification is displayed by noon on the Friday following the election. The new requirements go into effect on July 1, 2014.

Bill	Introduced	House Vote	Senate Vote	House Vote	Gubernatorial Action
HB 1337	Nov. 20, 2012 in Virginia House of Delegates	a on Feb. 5, 2013, 63 to 36	a on Feb. 15, 2013, 21 to 20	a w/amendment on Feb. 19, 2013, 64 to 36	a on March 23, 2013

Bill	Introduced	Senate Vote	House Vote	Gubernatorial Action
SB 1256	Jan. 10, 2013 in Virginia Senate	a on Feb. 5, 2013, 21 to 20	a on Feb. 20, 2013, 65 to 34	a on March 25, 2013

Absentee voting

2013 developments

A House subcommittee rejected a bill that would allow citizens to vote absentee without requiring a reason for doing so. The reason stated for rejecting the bill was a lack of resources. Win Sowder of the Williamsburg registrar's office said, "This would be a real burden on our office. Our office is really small and early absentee voting would set us up for failure."

However, a different bill by Delegate Daniel W. Marshall, III which would allow voters 65 and older to cast absentee ballots without an excuse was approved.

Eligibility

You are eligible to vote absentee in an election if you cannot make it to the polls on election day for one of the following reasons:

• you will be absent from the county or city in which you are entitled to vote, due to an obligation of business, profession, or occupation or while on personal business or vacation;
• you are a student, or spouse of a student, attending a school or institution of learning, who will be absent on the day of election from the county or city in which you are entitled to vote;
• you are unable to go in person to the polls on the day of election because of a disability, illness or pregnancy;
• you are confined while awaiting trial or for having been convicted of a misdemeanor, provided that the trial or release date is scheduled on or after the third day preceding the election. (If you are awaiting trial and are a resident of the county or city where you are confined, you may request to be taken to the polls to vote on election day if your trial date is postponed and you did not have an opportunity to vote absentee);
• you are a member of an electoral board, registrar, officer of election, or custodian of voting equipment;
• you are duly registered and unable to go in person to the polls on the day of the election because you are primarily and personally responsible for the care of an ill or disabled family member who is confined at home; or
• you are duly registered and unable to go in person to the polls on the day of the election because of an obligation occasioned by your religion.
• you are (i) a member of a uniformed service of the United States on active duty, or (ii) A member of the merchant marine of the United States, or (iii) you temporarily reside outside of the United States, or (iv) are the spouse or dependent residing with any person listed in (i), (ii), or (iii), and who will be absent on the day of the election from the county or city in which he is entitled to vote;

Deadlines

To vote absentee a request must be received at least seven days prior to the election. The ballot must then be returned by close of polls on election day.

Military and overseas voting

For full details, visit the Federal Voting Assistance Program here.

Early voting

Virginia is one of 8 states which allow early voting but require an excuse to vote early. Early voting begins as soon as ballots become available and ends on the Saturday before the election.

To vote early you need to provide an excuse for why you will be unable to vote at the polls during normal voting hours. The following are valid reasons:

• you will be absent from the county or city in which you are entitled to vote, due to an obligation of business, profession, or occupation or while on personal business or vacation;
• you are a student, or spouse of a student, attending a school or institution of learning, who will be absent on the day of election from the county or city in which you are entitled to vote;
• you are unable to go in person to the polls on the day of election because of a disability, illness or pregnancy;
• you are confined while awaiting trial or for having been convicted of a misdemeanor, provided that the trial or release date is scheduled on or after the third day preceding the election. (If you are awaiting trial and are a resident of the county or city where you are confined, you may request to be taken to the polls to vote on election day if your trial date is postponed and you did not have an opportunity to vote absentee);
• you are a member of an electoral board, registrar, officer of election, or custodian of voting equipment;
• you are duly registered and unable to go in person to the polls on the day of the election because you are primarily and personally responsible for the care of an ill or disabled family member who is confined at home; or
• you are duly registered and unable to go in person to the polls on the day of the election because of an obligation occasioned by your religion.
• you are (i) a member of a uniformed service of the United States on active duty, or (ii) A member of the merchant marine of the United States, or (iii) you temporarily reside outside of the United States, or (iv) are the spouse or dependent residing with any person listed in (i), (ii), or (iii), and who will be absent on the day of the election from the county or city in which he is entitled to vote;

See also

• Virginia elections, 2012

External links

• Voter guide
• Election website