ROANOKE, VA – Everyone knows ‘Virginia is for Lovers,’ but starting Friday, it’s also for voters.
This year on the ballot we have 5 different elections in Roanoke City - and what a lot of people don’t realize, is you don’t need an excuse to vote early.
“They’re realizing the convenience of it, and they’re wanting to take advantage of it,” Roanoke Registrar Nicholas Ocampo said.
Nicholas Ocampo is Roanoke’s new registrar - and has hit the ground running, with early voting starting this week.
Virginia has one of the earliest periods for early voting - with polls opening a whole 45 days before election day.
“We’re one of the earliest states, do you know the reasoning for that? Why are we so early?” 10 News Reporter Abbie Coleman asked.
“That’s just what the General Assembly has decided, and that’s what we’ll do,” Ocampo said.
One of the main reasons for early voting in the Commonwealth is to cut down on potentially long lines - like we’ve seen in past presidential elections.
“I was just talking about this with my mom. I went with her on election day in 2012, and we waited in line for over two hours to vote,” Coleman said.
“So, now having this expanded early voting, we can lighten the load a little bit, and get some people through ahead of time at their convince,” Ocampo said.
And as of the 2020 election - everyone can vote early.
“You said ‘no excuses,’ what do you mean by that?” Coleman asked.
“So, you don’t have to provide any reason for coming to vote early, saying ‘oh, I’m going to be away on election day.’ There’s no application required. It’s just showing up with your form of ID and vote, just like you would on election day,” Ocampo said.
In 2020, almost 18,000 people in Roanoke voted before election day - and they’re prepping for those numbers or even more. Both in person or by mail.
“We don’t just mass mail ballots to everyone. There is a process for that. We have a couple of teams of officers here today who are packing those ballots. We have about 4200 in our first mailing that are due to the post office by Friday,” Ocampo said.
“So, those 4200 are all people who have requested ballots?” Coleman asked.
“Correct,” he said.
Ocampo tells us the method doesn’t matter - as long as you get out and vote.
“If you’re not registered, today would be a wonderful opportunity,” he said.
You can register to vote, check your registration status, or find your polling place here.
More important voting information and dates can be found here.