It’s officially election season in Virginia.
But it’s not just about who ends up in Virginia’s US Senate seat. All 11 of Virginia’s congressional district seats are up for grabs, as are a number of local leadership positions and state ballot measures. That means all voting-eligible Virginians have a reason to show up this fall.
Election Day takes place on Tuesday, Nov. 3 this year, but there’s no reason to wait all that time to take care of your civic responsibility. Early voting kicks off 45 days before any given election in Virginia; beginning Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, you’ll be able to pop in to an early voting location in your county and cast your ballot.
Be sure you’re registered to vote
You don’t need to fill out an application form or even have a reason to take part in early voting—convenience is good enough. You will, however, need to be registered.
You can check your registration status by checking our tool or with a brief visit to the Virginia Department of Elections (VDOE) website. Its secure online form will request your first and last name, date of birth, last four digits of your social security number, and the county where you live in Virginia.
If you find that you’re not registered to vote, you have until Oct. 23 to get registered in time to vote in this year’s elections. If you miss that deadline, you can do same-day registration and cast a provisional ballot.
When and where to vote
Voters are only allowed to vote early in the jurisdiction in which they are registered. All counties and localities offer early voting at their respective registrar’s office, though some offer a slate of other early voting locations.
It’s also important to note early voting doesn’t take place every day between Sept. 18-Oct. 31. However, voter registration offices statewide will be open for early voting on Sunday, Oct. 18; Saturday, Oct. 24; Sunday, Oct. 25, and Saturday, Oct. 31.
With that in mind, be sure to check out this VDEO website tool to find the location of your local registrar’s office and times that it’s open. You’ll need to contact your local registrar’s office to inquire about other early voting locations in your county.
Bring identification
When you arrive at your early voting location, you’ll be asked to provide your name and address and show an acceptable form of ID. A list of acceptable IDs can be found here.
If you arrive without an acceptable ID, you can sign an ID statement affirming your identity before filling out a regular ballot. If you do not sign an ID statement, you’ll be allowed to vote using a provisional ballot and will have until noon on Friday, Nov. 6, to provide a copy of acceptable identification to the electoral board or sign an ID Confirmation Statement.
How to vote
Once you’re checked in, a volunteer poll worker will hand you your ballot. Take this ballot into an empty voting booth and completely fill out each bubble with the pen provided, both front and back.
You’ll then head to the tabulation machine, where you’ll simply slide the ballot into a slot or other designated ballot return location. And if you have any questions about this as it’s happening, the volunteers at the polling location will help you through each step.
Congrats, you’ve voted! Now feel free to fully tune out all campaign advertising from here on out and take comfort in knowing you’ve done your democratic duty.
This article was written with additional reporting by Sophie Boudreau and updated for the 2026 election season by Amie Knowles.
