Worried about your vote being counted?

With all of the confusion about how votes are tallied in different states, when your ballot is counted is extremely important for the upcoming presidential election.

Absentee ballots in Virginia can be scanned and counted before Election Day, and you can even track your ballot's progress through the system. If you can't go and vote in person, using an absentee ballot is the next best thing. Unlike other states that may have to wait until November 3 to even open their mailed-in ballots, Virginia election officials are already busy getting to work. 

In a recent interview, the election commissioner recently reached out to assure Virginia residents that their votes would be counted.

“You take the ballots, you open them up, they’re run them through the machine, but that whole process is observed by election officers, one from each party. It’s a very secure process we can follow. The main thing that means in Virginia, on election night, a lot of the ballot that have already come in these last few weeks before the election will have been processed through. So we won’t be like in some states, they won’t be done for days or weeks.” —Christopher Piper, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Elections

Another thing to keep in mind is that the required witness signature is not mandatory for the November 3 election. You may have received a pre-printed envelope that was prepared before this new rule was put in place.

Virginians voting by mail/absentee ballots: If you believe you may not safely have a witness present while completing the absentee ballot for the November 3 Election, you are not required to have a witness. #VAisForVoters #VaElections2020 pic.twitter.com/ADIZuYvOgG

— VA Dept of Elections (@vaELECT) October 1, 2020

For more information about absentee voting or casting your ballot in Virginia, visit the official website for the Department of Elections.

Will you be voting in person this year, or using an absentee ballot? Let us know in the comments!