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Early voting for the Virginia presidential primary on March 5 began this past Friday, Jan. 19.
Virginia will have a dual presidential primary election, which means both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party will have primaries on the same day, according to a press release from the Virginia Department of Elections.
In a dual primary, officers of election will ask voters if they want to cast their ballot in the Democratic Party primary or the Republican Party primary. All qualified voters may vote in either primary, but voters may not vote in both primaries.
The choice to vote in a party’s primary does not mean that the voter will be “registered” with that party. Virginia does not have party registration.
Six candidates will appear on the Republican primary ballot, even though all but two have dropped out of the race: Chris Christie, Ryan L. Binkley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Donald J. Trump, Ron D. De-Santis, and Nikki R. Haley. Three candidates will appear on the Democratic primary ballot: Marianne Williamson, Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Dean Benson Phillips.
In-person early voting will continue through Saturday, March 2. To vote early in-person, registered voters should go to the general registrar’s office for the jurisdiction in which they are registered, present their ID, and cast their ballot.
Requested absentee ballots will be mailed, including ballots to registered military and overseas voters. Any registered voter can request an absentee ballot either in-person, by mail, online (https://vote. elections.virginia.gov/Voter-Information/Lookup/absentee) or by contacting his or her general registrar’s office. Registered voters do not need a reason to request an absentee ballot.
In order to return a voted ballot, voters can drop off their absentee ballot at the general registrar’s office or polling location on Election Day. Absentee ballots returned by mail must be postmarked on or before March 5 and received by the general registrar before noon Friday, March 8.
Anyone with visual or manual dexterity impairment has the option to vote an absentee ballot using an electronic marking tool. The deadline to register to vote and cast a regular ballot is Feb. 12. After that date, voters will have to use same-day registration and vote a provisional ballot. The deadline to apply for a mailed ballot is Feb. 23.
Voters with questions about absentee and early inperson voting should contact their general registrar’s office or the Virginia Department of Elections by phone at 1 (800) 552-9745 or by email at [email protected]. For more information, voters are encouraged to visit the Virginia Department of Elections website at www.elections.virginia. gov.
