Early in-person voting in Virginia: Where, when, and how to vote

With so much at stake in this year’s elections—including deciding who represents you both in the governor’s office and in the Virginia House—voting early gives you a chance to make sure your voice is heard.

It’s election season in Virginia, and as one of just two states with a gubernatorial race this year, all eyes are on the Old Dominion State. 

But it’s not just about who ends up in the Executive Mansion; all 100 seats in Virginia’s House of Delegates are also up for election this year. That means nearly all Virginians (those living in districts with contested races, at least) have localized reasons to show up this November. 

Election Day takes place on Tuesday, Nov. 4 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. 19, 2025, you’ll be able to pop in to any 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 with a brief visit to the Virginia Department of Elections (VDOE) website. The 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. 24 to get registered in time to vote in this year’s elections. You can do so online at the Virginia Department of Elections website. (Though, 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. 19-Nov. 2. Most counties don’t have early voting on weekends, for example. 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 the Friday following the election (Nov. 7, 2025) to provide a copy of acceptable identification to the electoral board or sign an ID Confirmation Statement. 

We recommend simply bringing an acceptable ID to the polling place to avoid all that mess.  

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 place your ballot into the provided privacy sleeve and head to the tabulation machine, where you’ll simply slide the ballot (not the sleeve) 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. 

With additional reporting by Sophie Boudreau.

Related: Op-ed: Why voting early is a great option for Gen Z Virginians