Checking Virginia Absentee Ballot Progress

The featured image shows the status of my Virginia 2020 fall election ballot request. The elections office has received and approved my request and it is queued for the mail. As always, there is more. After the break, I’ll show you how to track your absentee ballot through the process using the Virginia Elections Office Citizen Portal.

References

1. https://www.elections.virginia.gov/citizen-portal/

Check Your Ballot Status

1. Open the citizen portal using the link Reference [1].
2. Scroll down to the bottom of the page.
3. Click the big green (yes, it is green) Go button

4. Go will take you here.

5. Click Check registration status button. It will take you to a form that will retrieve your records. Enter the requested PII.

6. Complete and submit the form. After a moment, you will receive a page containing your voter identification information, your absentee ballot history, your in person polling place, your participation history, and current ballot images once available in mid-September.

7. Absentee ballot status is live and updates each time the state elections office or city elections office processes your ballot. For the completed May election, this appears as shown below. For the November election, ballot issued and ballot received are blank.

As you can see, my request (submitted on line) for the May City election was received and approved. A ballot was issued and processed on May 14. Norfolk elected to process all ballots at the received by deadline. My fall ballot request is received and approved but not issued (mailed). The received date is for the ballot’s return.

Virginia uses Priority Mail to Deliver Ballots

Virginia sends your ballot to you using priority mail and prepays priority mail postage for the return piece. This service confirms that the ballot was delivered and allows tracking of its return. The USPS forwards this information to the Elections Office electronically. The Elections Office posts a subset of events on your registration page to allow you to confirm that a your ballot was sent and received. If it goes missing, it is trackable.