Election 2016: Requests for Absentee Ballots 55 Percent Higher Than 2012 in Alexandria

ALEXANDRIA, VA -- Requests for absentee ballots in Alexandria for the 2016 election are 55 percent higher than they were in 2012, according to registrar Anna Leider. Requests for absentee ballots by mail ended Tuesday. You can request one in person until Saturday at 5 p.m. at Beatly Library or the Office of Voter Registration.

As of Tuesday, there were 15,927 requests for absentee ballots in Alexandria, Leider said; as of Tuesday, 8,305 had voted absentee in person. The City has 91,672 active registered voters. More than 1,000 registered to vote when the deadline was extended after the State Board of Elections online registration broke down. The majority of those late registrations were made online but some were walk-ins and there were a couple hundred accepted by mail, Leider said.

Leider also said that absentee voting in person is 30 percent higher as of Tuesday. Voters who can't make it on Election Day for a variety of reasons are voting in person at Beatly Library, 5005 Duke St., and at the Office of Voter Registration 132 N. Royal St., Suite 100.

You have until Saturday if you want to vote before Election Day. Here are the hours:

Beatly Library

• Wednesday, Nov. 2: Noon to 8 p.m.
• Thursday, Nov. 3: Noon to 8 p.m.
• Friday, Nov. 4: Noon to 6 p.m.
• Saturday, Nov. 5: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Office of Voter Registration

• Wednesday, Nov. 2: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Thursday, Nov. 3: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Friday, Nov. 4: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Saturday, Nov. 5: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

On Election Day, polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Voters will mark their votes on a paper ballot in Alexandria; that ballot will get scanned in and the paper ballots will be locked in boxes that are signed by elections officers. Precinct captains will call in the votes to the registrar's office at the end of the night when voting is completed, Leider said.

The absentee votes are counted last and can be found on the State Board of Elections results Web site on Election Night as "Precinct 28" under Alexandria. In-person absentee voting ends Saturday at 5 p.m. but the elections office will count mailed-in ballots until 7 p.m.

Anyone waiting in line at 7 p.m. will be able to vote; election officers will announce or be standing at the end of the lines to let anyone know who shows up after 7 p.m. that they won't be able to vote, Leider said. "It's a very, very hard deadline." Leider said that most people have voted by 12 noon on Election Day.

Absentee Voting — By Mail

• The deadline to submit an application to have an absentee ballot mailed to you was Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 5 p.m. Applications had to be received at the Voter Registration Office by this time.
• Ballots are mailed within two business days via first class mail within the United States and by email or a special pre-paid U.S. postage permit to overseas citizens.
• Voted absentee ballots must be received at the Voter Registration Office by 7 p.m. on Election Day (Nov. 8) to be counted.
• The voted ballot may be returned by mail or delivered in-person (an absentee ballot dropped off must be delivered personally by the voter).
• Virginia's photo ID requirements do not apply to absentee voters who request an absentee ballot by mail.

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