2022 Midterm Elections: When, How To Get Absentee Ballots In Virginia

VIRGINIA — Voters in a handful of states can request an absentee ballot now as 2022 midterm election campaigns enter the final stretch. Absentee ballots for the Nov. 8 general election in Virginia will be available around Sept. 24.

Voters should be aware the procedure to get a mail-in ballot they followed in the 2020 general election may not be the same now. Multiple states changed their election laws after the COVID-19 pandemic upended voting patterns in the presidential election, with 69 percent of Americans casting ballots nontraditionally, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

Sponsors of new state laws on absentee voting say the changes improve election security, while critics say they make it harder for people to vote.

This is how Virginians can request a mail-in ballot.

• Apply online to vote by mail
• Military and overseas voters can find specific information regarding absentee voting on the Virginia Department of Elections military and overseas voting page.
• Military and overseas voters can find specific information regarding absentee voting on the military and overseas voting page.

After applying, you can check to see if your absentee application was received, and whether your ballot was sent and received by going to the Citizen Portal.

If you have submitted an absentee ballot application for a ballot to be sent by mail, you can track your ballot by logging into Ballot Scout.

If you are a voter in Fairfax County and submitted an application to vote absentee, please track your ballot here.

Residents can also submit their "vote by mail" application form by mail, fax or email.

• Download and complete the Absentee Application Form (En Español) (Tiếng Việt) (한 국어)
  • You can also download and complete the Permanent Absentee Change Application (En Español) (Tiếng Việt) (한 국어)
• Return the completed and signed form to your local registrar's office by mail, fax, or scanned attachment to an email. Contact information for your local general registrar's office is available using our online lookup tool.
• After the registrar processes your application, you will receive your ballot in the mail. Please note: ballots can be mailed out to applicants starting 45 days prior to the relevant election date.

On Election Day, Virginia voters will choose members of Congress, while Loudoun County will choose school board members; Fairfax City has council and school board seats up for election; Herndon has town council races; and Arlington has county board positions on the ballot.

Deadlines for returning your voted ballot for the Nov. 8 general election in Virginia:

• Review the instructions mailed with your ballot. Complete and return your ballot to your local general registrar's office by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
• You may also return your absentee ballot to a drop-off location. For more information on drop off locations in your locality, review the absentee instructions provided in your absentee ballot mailing.
• If you are returning your ballot by mail, it must be postmarked on or before election day and received by your general registrar's office by noon on the third day following the election. (In the event that that day is a holiday, the deadline is moved to the following business day).

In the 2020 presidential election, 43 percent of voters cast absentee ballots by mail and 26 percent voted in person before Election Day, according to the Census Bureau. Four years earlier, 21 percent of voters mailed in their ballots and 19 percent voted in person before Election Day.

Among groups seeing increases in absentee or early voting in 2020 were voters over 65, those with a bachelor’s degree, women, and Asian and Hispanic voters, according to the Census Bureau.

In Virginia, a significant portion of voters —49.5 to 61.7 percent or more — used "nontraditional" voting methods in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic hit. That included those who voted early and/or by absentee ballots.

The increase in those using nontraditional voting methods in Virginia represents a change of about 35 percentage points or more compared to the 2016 election.

Absentee ballot requests are already being taken in several states. Once the applications are verified, election officials begin mailing them during the times specified in state laws, according to information gathered by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Those officials will continue to verify and mail out absentee ballot requests for either a designated period or right up to Election Day. The NCSL said few states don’t specify when they start accepting absentee ballots, but in general:

• Ten states — Arkansas, Delaware, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wisconsin — begin mailing ballots to voters more than 45 days before Election Day.
• Eleven states — Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Wyoming — begin mailing ballots to voters 45 days before the election.
• Fourteen states — Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, South Carolina and Vermont — begin mailing ballots to voters 30-45 days before the election.
• Fourteen states — Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Utah and Washington — begin mailing ballots to voters fewer than 30 days before the election.
• Eight states — California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington — automatically mail absentee ballots to all voters.