We’ve gathered information from various sources to make it easy for you to vote in the Primary and General Election; if you have questions not answered below, check the City of Charlottesville Office of Voter Registration and Elections (“Registrar’s Office” for short) website or phone them during office hours Monday-Friday 8:30am-4:30pm at 434-970-3250.
PREPARE TO VOTE
If you need to register to vote, update your name or address or simply check your registration status, you have three options:
- Go online to the Virginia Voter Information Citizen Portal
- Register in-person at the Registrar’s Office, City Hall Annex, 120 7th St. NE, Room 142; during all Early Voting periods, you can also vote by provisional ballot when you register there. For the primary, you can register through May 28; for the General Election, you can register through Oct 15.
- If need be, you can always register at your precinct polling place on voting day (June 18 for the primary, November 5 for the general election) and vote a provisional ballot.
Notes:
- ID is not required to register to vote.
- A provisional ballot is one where election officials have a few extra days to verify your registration paperwork is all in order before your vote is counted.
3 VOTING OPTIONS (Early In-Person, Election Day In-Person, By Mail)
1. Early In-Person Voting (Safest and Best for our Candidates)
- Early Voting for the Primary runs May 3 – June 15 at the Registrar’s Office (City Hall Annex,120 7th St. NE, Room 142)Monday – Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm (Thursdays until 7:00pm). Only on Saturday June 8 and Saturday June 15 the office will also be open 8:30am-5:00pm.
- Early Voting for the General Election runs September 20 – November 2 (with Saturday voting on October 26 and November 2).
- Curbside voting from a car is available to anyone with a disability, limited mobility, or who is over age 65; just call 434-970-3250 when you arrive at the Registrar’s Office.
- Bring your ID (for Virginia’s voter ID policies, see this overview and list of acceptable forms of ID).
2. Election Day 6am-7pm In-Person Voting (Tuesday June 18 for the primary, November 5 for the general election)
- Go to your precinct polling location (check where that is using the City’s Interactive Precinct Map, because 40% of us were assigned new polling locations in 2023!).
- Bring your ID (for Virginia’s voter ID policies, see this overview and list of acceptable forms of ID).
- Same Day Registration (new as of 2023): If you’re not registered before voting day, you can go to your precinct polling place to register to vote and submit a provisional ballot; your polling place is determined by where you live. To find your correct polling place, contact the Charlottesville Voter Registration Office at 434-970-3250 or go to iwillvote.com (but if you go to the wrong precinct, the poll workers there will redirect you to the right precinct).
3. Vote by Mail
We recommend the other two options above, as local mail delivery has remained somewhat unreliable in recent years; if you must choose this mail option, it’s best to do it as soon as possible!
Here are the steps:
- Request your Ballot
- Already-registered voters can apply online for a ballot (until June 7 for the primary, until October 25 for the general election) at Virginia Voter Information Citizen Portal; given the slowness of the mail, apply as early as possible.
- You can apply for a ballot at the Voter Registration Office (Registrar’s Office, address above), but once you’re going to that office you may as well vote early in person and get it done right then and there!
- The Registrar’s Office starts sending ballots about 45 days prior to an election. If you think you should have already received your ballot but haven’t (either because signed up for the permanent “absentee” ballot list or because you sent in your request a while ago), check Ballot Scout to see if there’s a problem.
Once your ballot arrives, carefully provide all the information required by the ballot, including the last four digits of your Social Security Number and the year of your birth. Mailed-in ballots aren’t counted if they’re missing required information!
- Submit your Ballot
- Put your completed ballot in the 24/7 Ballot Drop Box outside the Voter Registration Office (or hand it to a clerk during office hours), OR
- Mail it in so it’s postmarked no later than voting day (June 18 for the primary, November 5 for the general election)… but note that it also must be received by the Board of Elections within the following week, which you will have no control over.
Restoration of Voting Rights
If you’ve been convicted of a felony, you must have your voting rights restored before registering to vote.
Scan the bottom QR code at the left to verify if your rights have been restored previously. If not, use this same site to request their restoration. Or use this link: https://cov-ror.azurewebsites.net/Search
Other Links
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- How to Get Involved with the Cville Dems
- Upcoming Elections
- City of Charlottesville’s Interactive Map of Charlottesville Precincts and Polling Places
Thank you for voting: your vote is your voice!!
[updated 3/13/2024]
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