Hey Virginia! If you want to vote, first you
need to make sure you’re registered.
There’s a link in the description where you
can check your registration status right now.
If you aren’t registered, or have moved or
changed your name since the last time you voted,
you can register online using the link in
the description as long as you have a Virginia
driver’s license or state ID.
If you don’t have a Virginia license—maybe
you don’t drive or you’re a college student
from another state—
you’ll go to the same registration website
to fill out a form, but at the end, you have
to print it out and mail it in.
Whichever way you register, you have until
October 13th if you want to vote in the November
general election.
Great. So you’re registered. Now you get
to vote.
In most cases, you’re going to be voting
in person on November 3rd.
But you can vote absentee by mail if you 
will be out of state on election day,
or if you have an illness, disability, work
shift, or religious belief that prevents you
from going to the polls.
If any of those apply to you, you can request
a ballot using either the online or mail in
form below.
You can request your ballot any time between
now and October 27th,
but the sooner you get your request in, the longer you will have to look it over, research candidates, and vote before you send it back before November 3rd.
If you qualify to vote absentee by mail, you can also go vote in person at your local registrar’s office between September 19th and October 31st.
There’s a link below to find the early voting
locations and hours for your county.
And or the rest of you, you can head to the
polls on November 3rd from 6am to 7pm.
And there’s a link in the description you
can use to find out where to go to vote.
You’ll need to bring an ID with you, too.
A Virginia Driver’s license, state ID, passport,
military or tribal ID, or student ID from a college
or university in Virginia all work.
You can also go to the same website you used
to check your registration and voting location
to find a sample ballot.
Your sample ballot tells you everything that
you’ll be able to vote for in this year’s election.
You don’t have to vote for every single thing
on the ballot, but if you want a chance to do some
research on the candidates in your local elections,
it’s a good idea to look
at a sample ballot first.
You can even fill it out and bring it to the
polls with you, so you can be sure you remember
how you want to vote.
The best thing to do if you want to vote this
year is to make a plan to vote right now.
From what day you’re gonna register to
whether you are going to vote in person or absentee.
What kind of ID are you gonna use, and where
is it?
Even what time you’re going to vote and
how you’re going to get there.
Write it down, put it in your notes app, text it to your friend, just make a plan so that nothing unexpected stops you from being counted on November 3rd.
There will be links for everything you need
to get registered and find your polling location
in description.
Thanks for being a voter
How To Vote in Every State is produced by Complexly in partnership with The MediaWise Voter Project, which is led by The Poynter Institute and supported by Facebook.
