Virginia has begun in-person early voting for the 2026 United States midterm elections, making voters there among the first in the country to cast ballots in congressional and state contests before Election Day on November 3. The voting period is part of a broader expansion of pre-election voting options, but eligibility rules, schedules and ballot procedures vary by state.
How Virginia’s voting rules have changed
Virginia has expanded weekend early voting and dropped its absentee witness requirement. Mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day can arrive by noon three days after the election.
The early-voting period is significant in a contest that will help determine control of the US House and Senate for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s term. College student Sanya Singhal, among the first people to vote early in person in Virginia, said she wanted to participate in democracy.
Early and mail voting rules differ by state
Voters in some states, including Minnesota and South Dakota, can cast absentee ballots in person, generally at a local election office or voting centre. More expansive early-voting periods are scheduled to start in those and other states in the coming weeks.
Mail voting has faced legal challenges from the Trump administration. The Supreme Court ruled in June that federal law does not override state laws allowing certain postmarked absentee ballots to arrive after Election Day, leaving those state deadlines in place. A ruling this week also blocked an attempt by Trump to impose new federal mail-voting restrictions, including standardised ballot envelopes and a federal system for verifying voter eligibility. Read the context: Trump asks Supreme Court to reinstate mail-in voting restrictions ahead of November elections.
What happens next
The Postal Service has advised voters who use mail ballots to send them earlier rather than later.
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