Hundreds of thousands of Virginians will vote by mail this year, and their ballots are likely already on their way to households across the Commonwealth. Radio IQ spoke with local registrars about the security and safety of such voting.
Mail-in voting in Virginia exploded in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic; it’s since dropped off some. But Richmond City registrar David Levine has been busy nonetheless, getting out ballots to those on the permanent absentee voting list, overseas Virginians in military service and others.
“Sometimes people have delays with the mail. Some of the voters I just mentioned can take a bit longer," Levine told Radio IQ Tuesday. "We also felt, in light of some of the conversations happening, to the extent we can get these out earlier and communicate about process and procedures, that would be beneficial.”
Concerns about mail voting, from President Donald Trump on down, have yet to uncover the kind of high-profile fraud some have tried to associate with it. Levine says that may be because the systems they use— either in-house mailing or a state-approved vender called Ballot Scout— are backed by tracking systems.
“A ballot tracker can frankly allow people to see where their ballot is in the cue, so if there’s issues, we have the ability to identify them and figure out how we’re going to go about helping them out," he said.
Mail ballots come with instructions on how to track the ballot. But if you’d like to fill out your mail in ballot and drop it off in person, that’s an option too.
Here’s York County Registrar Walt Latham on the ballot drop boxes he uses.
“We keep it secure; at one location we have it locked up with a chain," Latham told Radio IQ Tuesday. "At another location we have it stored away so it's observable at all times so no one can leave with the ballot box.”
Drop boxes won't go up until early voting starts Friday but you can put your ballot back in the mail now.
Election day is Tuesday, November 3rd.
