RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — If you missed Tuesday’s deadline to register to vote in Virginia, don’t worry — you can still cast a ballot in this year’s elections. That’s because Virginia allows eligible voters to register when they vote on Election Day or during early voting.
“A same-day-registration provisional ballot is exactly that — it is a voter registration application,” said Hanover County Registrar Teri Smithson. “So, all the information that you fill out for voter registration is on this provisional ballot.”
If you want to register and vote on the same day, you’ll complete a provisional ballot after you fill out your voter registration form. Your ballot will then be put aside while the local electoral board reviews your voter registration application before deciding whether or not to count your ballot.
“That ballot will be held until the day after the election, where the electoral board will come in here in Hanover at 1,” Smithson told 8News. “Each locality is different across the commonwealth. They’ll come in and adjudicate all those ballots.”
Smithson said that, in order to register and vote, you’ll need to bring your ID and have your address and Social Security number handy. You also need to make sure you’re heading to the right polling location.
“You do have to make sure that you’re voting in the precinct in which had you registered in time, this is where you would have been assigned because of the different congressional districts,” Smithson said. “We want to make sure you are getting the right ballot.”
Anyone interested in registering to vote on Election Day can find their polling place on the Virginia Department of Elections website.
