Virginians will soon be able to register to vote on-line thanks to a new state system that will “go live” this week.
Residents will still have the option of using standard paper applications … and can still register at the DMV or other agencies.
Virginians with a state driver’s license or DMV-issued ID card can use the State Board of Elections’ site portal to not only register on-line, but update their information and changes of address. Citizens who don’t have licenses or ID cards can still complete the on-line forms but will need to mail their registrations. State Elections Secretary Donald Palmer says the goal is to make sure people are NOT disenfranchised.
“A lot of information that’s provided in paper is sometimes indecipherable. And so mistakes are made—we’re humans. Both on the voter end and on the officer worker, sometimes the information is inaccurately placed into the record. This will decrease the number of errors. It will make the process much more clean.”
Palmer says the new system will be especially helpful for Virginians who are out-of-state or overseas.
“This process would allow an individual—a Virginia resident—who’s on an aircraft carrier, for example, and they just realize that they’re not registered. Well, they’ll be able to go onto our on-line portal and register on-line, and so they can be election-ready.”
He adds that the information will be verified, so a resident of another state won’t be approved to vote in Virginia.
