Virginia voters are requesting absentee ballots in increased numbers this year, though with only two weeks until Nov. 4, the remaining time to request and send in absentee ballots is running out.
Vickie Williams, absentee voting and voting education coordinator for the Virginia State Board of Elections, said voters have until next Tuesday, Oct. 28 at 5 p.m. to request absentee voter ballots. These ballots can be requested in person, by mail, fax or e-mail, as a signed and scanned attachment.
“Their signed and completed absentee ballots [should be sent] to the city or county [in which] they are registered,” Williams said.
The expected turn-around time for absentee ballot requests in Virginia is usually within one week.
“If [voters] haven’t gotten their ballot and [have] applied in the last 7 days [for it], they need to contact the city or county voter registrar’s office,” Williams said.
Along with absentee voting by mail, Williams noted that voters can also vote absentee in person, usually at their city or county registrar’s office, if they have a sufficient reason as to why they cannot vote on Election Day.
“Every single locality in Virginia has in-person absentee voting, [and for the] majority of localities you have to vote at the registrar’s office,” Williams said. “To find out those times, you should go our [Virginia State Board of Elections] Web site.”
Williams said she has seen a large interest in absentee voting from college students in this election, noting that she estimates there has been about a 25-percent increase in absentee ballot requests during this election season, many of which have come from students.
Bruce Vlk, deputy director of programs for the University Center for Politics, which houses the Student Voter Registration Coalition, similarly said he has seen a higher request for absentee ballots this fall than for Virginia voter registration forms.
“Anecdotally, I can say our numbers on distributing absentee ballot applications have been higher than [those on] Virginia registration applications [in recent months],” Vlk said.
Along with Virginia absentee ballot request forms, Vlk said the Student Voter Registration Coalition also provided other states’ absentee ballot request forms.
“We provided 30 states’ absentee forms just to make it easier for students so they didn’t have to go online,” Vlk said. “We also educated students at the table to let them know that they could vote locally or absentee.”
An increased interest in voting also seems to have led to an increase in students’ knowledge of the absentee ballot process, Vlk said.
“This fall semester there’s been less confusion [regarding absentee voting] because students seem to be versed on the rules this time around [because] it’s a presidential election,” Vlk said. “Our jobs just seem much easier this time around.”
In order to be counted, Williams said absentee ballots must be received by 7 p.m. Nov. 4.
“Absentee ballots are counted at the same time as any other ballot,” Williams said. “All ballots are counted after 7 p.m. on Election Day.”
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