Appomattox General Registrar Patricia Morton answers election questions

This is a Question & Answer (Q&A) article written by Appomattox County General Registrar Patricia Morton regarding the upcoming elections in November.

Q: Is voting early any different than voting at my precinct?

A: No, it’s the same process. When you put your ballot into the machine at the General Registrar’s office, it is immediately counted, just as at the precinct. These Early Voting ballots will be tallied on election night.

Q: Is there any way that I can check to see that my vote was counted?

A: Yes! The state website reflects the elections in which you have voted.

Please visit: https://www.elections.virginia.gov/citizen-portal/

Go to “Registration Status” and you will be able to see your voting history.

If you voted prior to election day, then your information should show up the next day. If you vote at your Precinct on Election Day, your information will show on the elections website 2-4 weeks later.

Q: How and when does my Absentee ballot get counted?

A: When your ballot arrives at the Registrar’s office, we first look to see if the “B” envelope is properly filled out, and witnessed. If there are any problems, we try to “cure” the ballot by contacting you to fix the issue. Either way, your ballot gets marked in our database as having arrived.

Starting one week prior to the election, our Central Absentee Processing (CAP) team will begin running the ballots through their voting scanner. All ballots that have arrived by election night will be scanned by that evening, and the results reported on election night. Any ballot arriving by mail between election night and noon on the Friday after the election will be counted Friday afternoon.

We love to educate our voters on how elections work! Please feel free to call us with questions, at 434-352-5302.

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