Avoid the lines: vote absentee

Hampton Roads, Local, National, Norfolk, Politics, Virginia 1 Minute

By nearly everyone’s estimation, the lines to vote will be extremely long this year. While additional staff has been hired to cover the polls, the surge in the number of voters expected to show up on Election Day is still going to make for a long wait. I’ve heard predictions of 45 minutes to three hours.

Avoid the lines: vote absentee.

Virginia, unfortunately, does not have  “no-excuse” absentee voting. (The House P&E subcomittee, in its infinite wisdom, killed SB69, which would have provided this opportunity to Virginians. Wonder if, in hindsight, the committee members wished they had voted differently?) However, Virginia does provide 17 criteria under which you are able to vote absentee.

You can vote absentee in person, by going to your local registrar’s office, or by mail. The last day to request an application to vote absentee is Tuesday, October 28. The application – which is required to receive a ballot by mail – may be obtained from your local registrar’s office or by downloading the form from the SBE website (fillable pdf), completing it and mailing or delivering it to the local registrar. You will then be mailed a ballot to complete.

As I’m generally working the polls on Election Day, I have been voting absentee. Last year, I did the absentee in person thing and found it a quick and painless way to get my vote cast. The last opportunity to vote absentee in person is Saturday, November 1.

Avoid the lines: vote absentee.

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18 thoughts on “Avoid the lines: vote absentee”

  1. I thought you could only vote absentee if there was something that prohibited you from voting on Election Day. I mean, I’ve got nothing against voting early if it’s allowed (and even support the idea of Election Day being a holiday), but isn’t voting absentee just because you don’t want to have to wait in line kinda against the letter if not the spirit of the law?

    Just seeking clarification, really.

  2. Well, what prompted me to write this post was this AP story as well as a forum I attended last night. There is an emphasis on the part of the SBE to make folks aware of the ability to vote absentee.

    No one is asking people to lie – just if they fit one of the 17 exceptions to take advantage of it.

  3. Thanks, Vivian.

    I don’t think anyone’s going to get in trouble for trying to vote early anyway. Enforcing the absentee voting rules could get a bit sticky and really are silly. I just figure they’d be better off just saying “hey, if you want to vote early, come and get it” as opposed to setting up vague exceptions.

  6. Perfectly said. I really hate seeing “early voting” promoted in Virginia. We don’t have “early voting”. As you note, there are remarkably broad absentee criteria (almost everyone I know crosses county/city/state lines for work, thus falling into the first exception). Hopefully, Virginia will place a bit more priority on improving and harmonizing its voting procedures in the future.

    (Can’t say that I’m dedicating a lot of hope to that, though.)

  7. I thought you were a lawyer, MB. The first exception, as you call it, says,

    Any person who, in the regular and orderly course of his business, profession, or occupation or while on personal business or vacation, will be absent from the county or city in which he is entitled to vote;

    If one is commuting from his house, he is, obviously, present in the county or city in which he in which he is entitled to vote. Being present, he is not absent.

  9. I voted today, since I will be working on election day. I stood in a line for about 45 minutes in Chesapeake with many seniors who were able to sit and wait. I know that it goes against what some believe, but in talking to election officials, they know that there will be long lines, with a short handed election staff, so if you don’t have the time to do it on election day, do it now. Every vote is going to count! It is going to be crowded on Nov. 4th, but that is a wonderful thing, it should be that way in every election!

  10. Be careful when trying to vote early by absentee in Norfolk. They are turning away people. They are really pushing the 17 criterion. There is apparently a Federal provision that you can vote early, but only for President of the United States. You will not get a ballot for any of the other elections. Has anyone else heard this? Norfolk officials are telling people that when they go to vote.

  11. According to the SBE website:

    Any registered and qualified voter may request a mail ballot for presidential and vice-presidential electors only by writing across the top of their absentee application “request ballot for presidential electors only.” A voter who votes a “presidential only” ballot may not later decide to vote the rest of the ballot. The same procedures and deadlines apply as for other absentee applications and ballots.

    That’s the “presidential only” provision and it requires no excuse.

  12. Brian,

    I think “Any person who is a member of an electoral board, registrar, officer of election, or custodian of voting equipment” pretty much covers working the polls.

    My absentee ballot goes in the mail sometime within the next couple of days.

  13. LittleDavid, if “working the polls” means handing out literature, than it most certainly does not cover it.

    A volunteer campaigning outside is not a member of an electoral board, registrar, officer or custodian of voting equipment.

  15. Brian,

    Why must you assume that Vivian’s claim to work the polls means less then something she claims?

    If you have something on this that would educate us, please inform us.

    If you are clasping at straws, please shut the heck up.

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