2026 Virginia Voter Guide

Some of the features in this Voter Guide were made possible through the Knight Election Center and a grant from Microsoft. For questions about this Voter Guide, contact us at news@cardinalnews.org.

What we’re voting on this year

Virginians this year will vote on:

A U.S. Senator (Mark Warner is up for reelection; Republicans are holding a primary Aug. 4 to pick their nominee)
U.S. House of Representatives (all 11 districts). Many districts will have primary elections on Aug. 4 to pick party nominees.
Some localities will have local elections for city council and other offices. Six localities will hold Democratic primaries on Aug. 4 to pick nominees for local office: Arlington County (county board), Chesterfield County (board of supervisors), Harrisonburg (city council), Manassas (city council), Montgomery County (sheriff) and Roanoke (city council)

For details about who is on your ballot, look up your locality under “Elections by Locality” below.

NOTE: These pages will not be updated until after the Department of Election issues the final list of who will be on the ballot for congressional primaries.

This year there are multiple filing deadlines which, yes, makes things somewhat confusing. The filing deadline for U.S. Senate primaries and local primaries has already passed. The filing deadline for congressional primaries is May 26, so we won’t know who’s running in the August 4 congressional primaries until then. Independents for any office have until June 16 to file, which means we won’t know who is on the ballot for many local offices until then, and we won’t know the full ballot for November until after those August 4 primaries.

For now, we have a partial update for the Lynchburg, Montgomery County and Roanoke pages to accommodate party-run Republican nominating processes to pick candidates for Lynchburg city council (May 30), Montgomery County sheriff (June 20) and the state-run primaries on August 4 for Democratic nominees for Montgomery County sheriff and Roanoke city council.

Virginia election dates for 2026

Primaries for party nominations

June 18*: Early voting begins for August 4 primaries. (The official start date for early voting is June 19 but the Department of Elections advises: “If the local office is closed on June 19 for the Juneteenth state holiday, then the office shall be open for early voting on Thursday, June 18.“)

August 4: Primary elections. This will include a Republican primary for U.S. Senate, both Democratic and Republican primaries in some congressional districts to pick House nominees, a Democratic primary in Roanoke to pick city council nominees and a Democratic primary in Montgomery County to pick a candidate for sheriff.

General election

September 18: Early voting begins for the November general election.

October 23: Deadline to register to vote, if you’re not already registered, without having to cast a provisional ballot.

October 31: Early voting ends.

November 3: Virginians will be voting for a U.S. senator, members of the U.S. House, and various local offices, including some city council seats in Danville, Lynchburg, Martinsville and Roanoke.

For more details, see the Virginia Department of Elections.

Which congressional district are you in?

Virginia will be using the same congressional map it’s used since the 2022 elections:

Virginia's current congressional districts,approved in late 2021. Courtesy of Twotwofourtysix. — Virginia’s current congressional districts, approved in late 2021. Courtesy of Twotwofourtysix.

We have more detailed maps of each district on the locality pages below.

How do I vote?

Who’s running?

U.S. Senate: Mark Warner, the Democratic incumbent, is seeking reelection. The candidates for the Republican nomination in the August 4 primary are Kim Farrington, Bert Mizusawa, David Williams.

U.S. House: All 11 Virginia incumbents are seeking reelection. Three districts will have Republican primaries on August 4: the 5^th, 7^th and 10^th. Five districts will have Democratic primaries that day: the 1^st, 2^nd, 5^th, 8^th and 9^th. You can find the full list of congressional candidates here.

Local offices: See each locality under “Elections by Locality.”

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Who’s on your ballot?

We’ve created election pages (below, under “Elections by Locality”) that list who’s on the ballot in each county and city. However, these won’t be updated until the Department of Elections sets the ballot for the August primary. Once the ballot is set, we’ll be sending questionnaires to the candidates and displaying their answers on those pages.

If you spot any errors or omissions, please let us know at elections@cardinalnews.org.

Elections by locality

Where the candidates stand

Once the ballot is set, we’ll send questionnaires to all the candidates. We’ll be posting the U.S. Senate candidates here and other candidates on the pages of the localities where they’re running.

How elections work

In conjunction with the nonpartisan group Keep Our Republic, Cardinal has produced this video interview with three registrars about how the election process works: Jacquelynne “Jackie” Harris, chief deputy registrar in Nelson County; Derek Lyall, general registrar and director of elections in Washington County and Blakley Morris, general registrar and director of elections for the city of Bristol. Cardinal’s Dutchie Jessee is the host.

Your support matters

Our Virginia Voter Guide is made possible by your membership and contributions. Your support enables us to provide comprehensive candidate information, election coverage and public Q&A sessions. Sign up now to help us continue this important work and keep Virginia voters informed!

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Where is my polling place?

Find my polling place

How to vote

Can I vote with an out-of-state or expired license?

Yes. If you get to your polling place without an acceptable ID, you can sign a statement affirming your identity and vote on a regular ballot, according to the Virginia Department of Elections. If your license is expired, you can still use it to vote.

How can I vote by mail in Virginia?

For June primaries: You can request a mail-in ballot for the primary election until June 14.

For fall elections: You can request a mail-in ballot for the primary election until October 24.

Request the mail-in ballot on Virginia’s election portal, or by mailing an application for an absentee ballot to your local voter registration office. You can find the address for your voter registration office on the Virginia Department of Elections website.

You can also request an absentee ballot up to 11 days until the deadline. After the deadline, only emergency absentee ballots are available until the day before the election. To qualify for an emergency absentee ballot, you need to have a serious conflict (like a work conflict, or a health issue of an immediate family member).

Can I vote early in-person?

Yes. You can vote early in-person at your local registrar’s office. You can find the location of the general registrar’s office in your jurisdiction and read more about ea rly voting on the Virginia Department of Elections’ website.

When do polls open?

Polls will be open between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Election Day.

If you are in line by 7 p.m., you will be allowed to vote.

Can I vote from jail in Virginia?

In many cases, yes. If you do not have a felony conviction, or if the governor has restored your right to vote after a felony conviction, you can vote – even from jail. This includes if you are being detained awaiting your court date, or are in jail for a misdemeanor conviction.

If you have a felony conviction, you can petition the governor to restore your voting rights.

Not sure if you’re eligible to vote?

Check your registration status at virginia.gov.

You can also check out Virginia’s list of voter rights, and read ProPublica’s guide on voting accessibility for more information.