• Have a valid Virginia DMV driver's license or state ID card.
• Be a citizen of the United States.
• Be a resident of Virginia.
• Be 18 years old on or before the next general election
  (if you are 17, you can still register and vote in elections if you will be 18 on or before the next general election).
• Be qualified to preregister to vote by being at least 16 years old but not 18 years of age on or before the day of the next general election.
  (Please note that preregistered individuals are not entitled to vote.)
• Not currently convicted of a felony or judged as mentally incapacitated and disqualified to vote.

• Virginia driver's license or state ID .
• Your Social Security number .
• Your date of birth.

• Whether or not you consent for your DMV signature to be used to register to vote and apply for an absentee ballot.
• Whether you have read the terms of the Privacy Act Notice. (Warning: intentionally voting more than once in an election or making a materially false statement on this application constitutes the crime of election fraud, which is punishable under Virginia law as a felony. Violators may be sentenced up to 10 years in prison, or up to 12 months in jail and/or fined up to $2,500.)

• Visit the Fairfax County Office of Elections, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Same day registration: Beginning 21 days before an election, residents may register to vote and vote a provisional ballot at any early voting location or on election day at the polling location for the precinct where they reside. Find out more about same day registration.

• Download a Virginia Voter Registration form: English, En Español, Tiếng Việt, 한 국어
• Pick up an application in these Fairfax County offices:
  • Libraries
  • Members of the Board of Supervisors' offices
  • County governmental centers

After the normal deadline to register to vote (22 days before an election), Virginia citizens may complete a voter registration form at an early voting location, or on election day at the polling location for the precinct in which they reside and cast a provisional ballot. Virginia law requires a voter on election day to cast their ballot at their precinct polling place.

After completing the voter registration form on a provisional ballot envelope, same day registration (SDR) voters mark a ballot and seal it in the envelope. 

SDR applications are processed in the days following the election, then the Electoral Board determines which provisional ballots are to be counted. For the SDR ballot to be considered, the voter registration form must be completed fully and correctly and, if completing an SDR on election day, the voter must complete the SDR process at the polling place for the precinct in which they reside. 

To place your ballot in the voting machine yourself or to vote absentee, you must register to vote prior to the normal deadline, 22 days before an election.

Yes. Beginning with the 2022 General Election, the General Assembly approved legislation that provides the ability to register at any time, up to and including Election Day.

No. All online (and mailed) registration applications submitted after the normal deadline prior to an election are not processed until after election day. To register after the deadline and vote in the immediate upcoming election, you must do so at a voting location and immediately vote a provisional ballot. 

Provisional ballots are used by voters who do not appear on the list of registered voters at their polling location. Provisional ballots are not processed by a vote counting machine at the time of voting, but rather are subject to approval by the local electoral board prior to the ballot being counted.

The general registrar’s office for your locality will research your ballot to gather registrar’s office will forward your ballot and the information gathered to the electoral board to review and approve or deny your ballot.

After you vote, you will be given a notice with the date, time, and place where the local electoral board will make a decision regarding your provisional ballot. You are entitled to attend this meeting, but you are not required to attend in order for your ballot to be counted. If your registration application is approved and there are no other issues, your ballot will be counted. If your ballot is not counted, you will receive written notice from your general registrar.

Any person qualified to register to vote is eligible. However, if you are already registered in a different locality and seeking to update your registration, you may be eligible to cast a non-provisional ballot, rather than the provisional ballot used for same day registration. Your general registrar or officer of election at your polling place can provide further information about eligibility.

Same day registration and voting with a provisional ballot can be utilized after the October 15 deadline to register to vote a non-provisional ballot.

You may same day register at the office of your general registrar or satellite location during the early voting period. On Election Day, you must go to the polling place for the precinct in which you reside.

You can find this information by contacting the Fairfax County Office of Elections.

703-222-0776 TTY 711

voting@fairfaxcounty.gov

12000 Government Center Parkway Suite 323
Fairfax, VA 22035

No.

If you turn 18 on or before the date of the general election in November (first Tuesday in November), you may vote in the general election and also in a primary election for federal offices held prior to that election.

You may call, email, or visit our office and request a duplicate.

The easiest way is online through the Virginia Department of Elections Citizen Portal.  Alternately, you may complete a paper application. Download one here or find a an application at libraries, Board of Supervisor offices, and at our office. For more information on voter registration, visit the Virginia Department of Elections website.

No!  A voter must complete their own application. It is a felony to impersonate someone else on an election document. She may register to vote in the county/town where she is living while attending school or in Fairfax County using her family’s home address. 

You may do this online through the Virginia Citizen Portal. Alternately, complete a paper copy of a voter registration application to register to vote when you arrive in your new county. This will automatically cancel your registration in Fairfax County.

On this page download the “Request to Cancel Voter Registration” form to complete and mail or email (Voting@fairfaxcounty.gov) to our office.

To vote by placing your ballot in the voting machine yourself or to vote an absentee ballot by mail, you must register before the normal deadline (“close of books”), which is 22 days before an election. Virginia Code § 24.2-416

After that date, Virginia offers same day registration (SDR) at voting locations as an option for residents who were unable to register before the deadline.  At the time they register, these voters must vote a provisional ballot for consideration after election day by the Fairfax County Electoral Board, which means their votes are not included in the election night results. Virginia Code § 24.2-420.1