VB election workers prepare ahead of the start of early voting

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – Early voting in Virginia starts on Friday, Sept. 20 and 10 On Your Side wants voters to be prepared.

Candidate signs can be found lined up outside of the Virginia Beach Registrar’s Office, where election workers have started prepping ahead of the important election deadlines. On Tuesday, poll workers began testing the voting equipment to ensure they are ready for early voters.

The Virginia Beach Director of Elections, Christine Lewis, told 10 On Your Side that safeguards are still in place to ensure all votes are counted properly.

“Every November election is completely different from the next, it has its own life to it,” Lewis said. “This election is going to be pretty big. We expected long lines and just everyone be patient. Our office is locked down 24/7. The only way you can get to the office is with a badge. Everyone has a secure badge that they use for access, and the voters will be able to get in through [the door] on Friday. Everything’s locked up. The ballots are locked up.”

Lewis expects about 1,000 people to stop by to vote on Friday, Sept. 20.

Just last month, Governor Glenn Youngkin issued executive order 35 — to protect legal voters and ensure accurate counting. It is now considered a class six felony if you intentionally vote more than once in the same election.

“If they’re registered to vote in Virginia Beach or in Virginia, we have what’s called VERIF,” Lewis said. “It’s the voter registration database that the state houses. We know where everyone [is registered], we can see if someone’s registered to vote in Virginia Beach. They can’t be registered to vote in another locality because their Social Security number, all their information is in that database.”

The last day to register to vote or to update your information is Oct. 15, and the last day to apply for a ballot to be mailed to you is Oct. 25.

To sign up for deadline updates and for additional voter information, sign up for alerts here .

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