Friday, July 24, is the last day to register to vote in the August 4 primary. Voters will chose candidates for the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and local races in Virginia.
After Friday, voters can cast a provisional ballot and then complete the registration process. You can register, or check and update your registration, at the Virginia Department of Elections Citizens Portal.
Friday at 5 p.m. is also the deadline to request an absentee ballot. You can do that through the Citizen Portal, or in person at your local registrar’s office. You can vote early in person through Saturday, August 1.
Primary Date Change, Election Monitors
Virginia primaries are usually in June. They were moved this year to leave time for the midterm redistricting that was supposed to happen after a bill and a ballot question passed earlier this year. However, Virginia’s Supreme Court struck down the initiative.
If you’re in Fairfax or Prince William County, you may see federal election monitors when you get to the polls.
Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice’s civil rights division, said that monitors would be sent to six states, including Virginia. Her office later confirmed that Fairfax and Prince William counties would be the two jurisdictions visited by the monitors, Virginia Public Media reported.
Dhillon said the monitors were being sent “where there may have been some problems in the recent elections.” She didn’t specify any actual problems. Her office did not respond when VPM asked why two largely Democratic counties were being targeted.
Who’s On the Ballot?
U.S. Senate
All Virginia Republicans will vote for one of three Republicans looking to take on the incumbent, Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, and independent Mark Moran. They are Kim Farington, Bert Misuzawa, and David Williams.
U.S. House
Three U.S. House districts in Northern Virginia are holding primaries.
In the 7th District, three Republicans — Philip Harding, Douglas Ollivant, and Rick Smithers — are looking to take on the incumbent, Democratic Rep. Eugene Vindman, in the fall.
In the 8th District, there’s no Republican primary; Tony Sabio is the candidate. But four Democrats are looking to unseat their fellow Democrat, incumbent Rep. Don Beyer: Lorena Bruner, Michael Duffin, Adam Dunigan, and Mo Seifeldein.
In the 10th District, three Republicans — Dave Beckwith, Julie Perry, and Anthony Suttles — are looking run against the incumbent, Democratic Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, as well as independents Steven Goforth and Omar Morsy.
Republican candidate Sam Wong is also on the GOP primary ballot, but he withdrew after the ballots were printed.
You can find your House district, and all your precinct lines, on VDOE’s interactive map.
Local Elections
There’s only one primary for a local office in Northern Virginia this year. It’s in Arlington County for the county board.
The primary for the board uses ranked-choice voting. Voters will list the candidates — James DeVita, incumbent Chair Matt de Ferranti, and Julie Farnam — in order of preference.
Feature image, Andrey Popov/stock.adobe.com
