Voter Registration Day: Deadlines For Voting In Nov. 7 VA Elections

VIRGINIA — The drive to get people to the polls for the Nov. 7 elections in Virginia started in earnest Tuesday, Sept. 19, with National Voter Registration Day, a nonpartisan civic holiday observed for the past decade to reach tens of thousands of Americans who might not otherwise register.

A step-by-step process on the National Voter Registration Day website guides potential voters through registration. For all potential voters: Check your registration status, especially if you’ve moved since you last voted, recently turned 18 or changed your name.

Successfully registering now ensures eligibility to vote in Virginia’s Nov. 7 elections, which includes all Virginia House and Senate seats and local races in some localities. The Virginia Department of Elections has its own citizen's portal to check voter registration status or register to vote.

One of the most important dates to remember in Virginia: Oct. 16 is the last date to register to be eligible to vote in the Nov. 7 election. However, same-day voter registration is allowed in Virginia, so voters can cast a provisional ballot. Provisional ballots are reviewed by the local registrar and electoral board before being counted.

More than 5 million Americans have registered to vote in the Voter Registration Day project to date. Last year, 414,016 people registered to vote for the first time on the day of the observance. More information can be found in the 2022 annual report.

States nationwide have passed a near-record number of laws that restrict voting rights so far in 2023, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan law and policy institute.

The Brennan Center noted that the near-record pace of laws tightening restrictions was fueled by a still active 2020 presidential election denial movement, but has been matched by moves in state legislatures to boost voting access.

In fact, the policy institute said, more expansive than restrictive laws were passed this year. Geographic divisions persist, though.

Virginia has had several recent improvements to voter access, including the same-day voter registration on or before Election Day starting with the 2022 general election. A bill that took effect on July 1, 2023 requires registrars to publish notice of the last day of voter registration on a locality's website and at least one newspaper.

For absentee voting, another bill effective July 1, 2023 removes the requirement for a witness signature on an absentee ballot. Instead, voters would be required to provide the last four digits of their Social Security number and their birth year on the ballot.