Threat Tier: 3 — MODERATE Last Researched: September 7, 2026

Data currency notice: Election law, official contact information, and legislative status change frequently. Verify all information within 30 days of use. The federal USPS mail-ballot rule is under an active Supreme Court stay application and could change with no warning — confirm its status before relying on any mail-ballot timing advice.

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Recent Developments (Entry Point for Updates)

• September 7, 2026: The USPS mail-ballot rule (Executive Order 14399) is blocked by Judge Indira Talwani’s September 4 preliminary injunction, which covers the November 3 election. The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to stay that injunction, and that application is pending. The Court could act at any time. Virginia is a plaintiff in the 24-state suit that produced this injunction. The June 25 injunction that older guidance referred to was vacated on August 26 — it is not what is protecting Virginia voters now.
• September 4, 2026: Democratic congressional nominee Elaine Luria filed suit in Virginia Beach Circuit Court against the Department of Elections, seeking to remove independent candidate Gerald “Bishop” Staten from the VA-2 ballot for allegedly failing to submit 1,000 valid signatures. Ballot-access litigation this close to printing can affect ballot delivery timelines.
• August 20, 2026: U.S. District Judge John Gibney affirmed his King v. O’Bannon injunction and rejected the Attorney General’s list of 284 statutory felonies that the state argued could still disenfranchise. Only the 11 common-law felonies of 1870 apply. Gibney found the Commonwealth “lagged — sometimes egregiously so — in implementation,” failing to register named plaintiffs and blocking online registration for class members, but recorded that those specific failures have been fixed.
• August 6, 2026: Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed three election bills: HB 215 (statutorily requires Virginia to be enrolled in ERIC), HB 967 (strengthens the Voting Rights Act of Virginia on vote dilution and voter suppression), and HB 972 (requires registrars to notify a voter before their registration is canceled).
• August 5, 2026: The NVRA 90-day quiet period for the November 3 election began August 5. Systematic removal of voters from the rolls is presumptively unlawful from that date forward. Virginia has bound itself to this twice over — by the April 2026 purge settlement and by Executive Order 13.
• July 31, 2026: Spanberger announced she had restored voting and other civil rights to 66,085 Virginians since taking office in January, reversing the petition-based process used under Gov. Youngkin.
• May 15, 2026: The U.S. Supreme Court declined to revive Virginia’s voter-approved redistricting amendment. The 2021 court-drawn congressional map governs the November 3, 2026 election. See Redistricting below.
• May 20, 2026: Spanberger signed Executive Order 16, directing the Department of Elections to issue guidance for election workers on how to handle federal civil immigration arrests at polling places.
• April 22, 2026: Virginia enacted HB 1441 / SB 783 — the only laws in any state this year that specifically restrict immigration enforcement near polling places — and HB 286 / SB 337, barring the Governor from calling out the National Guard to deter or intimidate voters.
• April 20, 2026: A federal court approved the settlement in Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights v. Koski, ending the Youngkin-era non-citizen purge program’s operation inside the 90-day quiet period.

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State Threat Profile

Virginia entered 2026 as an obstruction story and is ending it as a compliance story. The threat that defined this file in mid-2026 — the Department of Elections and the Office of the Attorney General slow-walking a federal court order restoring voting rights to people with felony convictions — has been narrowed by the court and largely, though not entirely, remedied by the state.

In King v. O’Bannon, U.S. District Judge John Gibney ruled on January 22, 2026 that Article II, Section 1 of the Virginia Constitution violates the Virginia Readmission Act of 1870, a federal statute that bars Virginia from disenfranchising anyone except for crimes that were felonies at common law in 1870. He ordered compliance by May 1, 2026; Attorney General Jay Jones obtained an extension to June 1.

What the Commonwealth then produced was a list of 284 statutory felonies it said could still cost a person the vote — a list that included illegal use of tear gas, which, as Gibney noted, had not been invented in 1870. Registrars were instructed not to fully process registrations from people with felony convictions, and thousands of newly eligible Virginians missed the August 4 congressional primaries in registration limbo. On August 20, 2026, Gibney rejected the 284-felony list and reaffirmed that only the 11 common-law felonies apply: arson, burglary, escape or rescue from jail, larceny, manslaughter, mayhem, murder, rape, robbery, sodomy, and suicide. He recorded that the state had fixed the specific implementation failures at issue.

Two things remain unresolved. First, more than 200,000 Virginians are still disenfranchised under a constitutional provision the Sentencing Project ranks among the most severe in the country; Ballot Question 3 on the November 3 ballot would end that permanently, and would additionally write a fundamental right to vote into the Virginia Constitution. Second, the registration form still asks about felony convictions, and lying on it is a felony under Va. Code § 24.2-1016 — Gibney declined to order the form rewritten, so people newly eligible under his ruling still face a form that does not clearly tell them they qualify.

Against that, Virginia’s protective posture is now among the strongest in the country. The state settled the non-citizen purge litigation, rejoined ERIC, codified the NVRA quiet period by executive order and then by statute, strengthened its own state Voting Rights Act, is the only state to have enacted laws specifically restricting immigration enforcement near polling places, is a plaintiff against the USPS mail-ballot rule, and won dismissal of the DOJ’s suit for its voter file. Virginia also offers same-day registration through Election Day, no-excuse absentee voting, a 44-day early voting window, drop-off locations at every polling place on Election Day, and an ID-confirmation-statement alternative for voters without ID.

The residual threats to Virginia voters in 2026 are therefore mostly federal and external: the pending Supreme Court application on the USPS rule, the DOJ’s Fourth Circuit appeal of its dismissed voter-data suit, and the doctrinal exposure created by Louisiana v. Callais at the local-government level.

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Legal Disruption Routes

State-Level Legal Disruption

Route	Legal mechanism	Sponsor / Who enacted it	Status as of September 2026	Legal challenge
Felony disenfranchisement (broad)	VA Constitution Art. II § 1 — historically applied to every felony	State constitution; Governor’s discretion to restore	King v. O’Bannon limits disenfranchisement to the 11 common-law felonies of 1870; affirmed Aug 20, 2026	Injunction in force; plaintiffs’ request to rewrite the registration form’s felony question was denied
Over-broad “still disenfranchising” crime list	OAG guidance listing 284 statutory felonies as continuing bars	Office of the Attorney General, June 2026	Rejected by the court Aug 20, 2026 — only the 11 common-law felonies apply	Resolved against the Commonwealth
Registration processing friction for people with felony records	Registrars instructed not to fully process affected registrations; online registration blocked for class members	ELECT/OAG administrative practice, summer 2026	Court recorded these failures as fixed; verify your own record	Litigated and closed in the Aug 20 order
Youngkin-era non-citizen purge program	Executive Order 35 (Aug 2024) — DMV-flagged removals inside the quiet period	Gov. Youngkin, 2024	Ended by settlement, approved Apr 20, 2026	Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights v. Koski — settled
Constitutional amendment (Question 3)	Automatic restoration on release; fundamental right to vote	General Assembly (HJR 2), signed to the ballot Feb 2026	On the November 3, 2026 ballot	N/A — voters decide

Federal Actions Targeting This State

Action	Status	Who is resisting / cooperating
USPS mail-ballot rule (EO 14399)	Blocked for the Nov 3 election by the Sept 4, 2026 preliminary injunction; the administration’s stay application is pending at the Supreme Court. The June 25 injunction was vacated Aug 26 and is no longer operative.	Virginia is a PLAINTIFF. AG Jay Jones joined the multistate challenge in April 2026 and Virginia is among the 24 states + DC that filed the successor suit on Aug 26
DOJ voter-data lawsuit (United States v. Koski, E.D. Va. 3:26-cv-42)	Filed 1/16/26; dismissed 7/14/26. The court held Virginia’s statewide voter list is not a “record” subject to production under Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960, and that DOJ’s reading would put Title III on a “collision course” with the NVRA and HAVA. DOJ noticed an appeal to the Fourth Circuit on 7/24/26 (No. 26-2002). Nationally DOJ has not won one of these cases.	ELECT and the AG resisted; no Virginia voter data was handed over
SAVE America Act	Passed the U.S. House in February 2026; stalled in the Senate, blocked by the filibuster. A reconciliation workaround failed 48–50 on April 23, 2026. It is not law, and no Senate passage vote has occurred	No Virginia implementing bill. Sens. Warner and Kaine oppose it
Federal agents / troops at polling places	No confirmed deployment plan; see the section below	Virginia has enacted the only state laws in the country specifically restricting immigration enforcement near polling places
NVRA 90-day quiet period	Active since August 5, 2026	Virginia is bound by settlement, by EO 13, and by statute; a systematic purge now would be presumptively unlawful

Redistricting

The map question is settled, and the answer is the old map. Say this plainly to anyone who is confused by the spring’s news cycle:

1. In February 2026, the General Assembly passed and Gov. Spanberger signed a new congressional map that would have favored Democrats roughly 10–1, contingent on voters approving a constitutional amendment permitting mid-decade redistricting.
2. Voters approved that amendment in a April 21, 2026 statewide special election, roughly 51%–49%, on more than 3 million ballots.
3. On May 8, 2026, the Supreme Court of Virginia ruled 4–3 in Scott v. McDougle that the General Assembly had not followed the constitutional procedure for proposing the amendment, and that the defect “incurably taints the resulting referendum vote and nullifies its legal efficacy.” The court held that “the congressional district maps issued by this Court in 2021 … remain the governing maps for the upcoming 2026 congressional elections.”
4. On May 15, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to disturb that ruling.

The 2021 court-drawn map governs the November 3, 2026 election. The delegation elected under it in 2022 and 2024 was 6 Democrats, 5 Republicans.

**Post-Callais exposure.** On April 29, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court held 6–3 in Louisiana v. Callais that race-conscious redistricting under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional. Section 2 is no longer an enforceable federal check on maps that dilute minority voting strength. The largest long-run effect is at the local level — county boards of supervisors, city councils, school boards, and at-large election systems, which is where roughly two-thirds of historical vote-dilution cases were brought.

Virginia is better positioned than most Southern states here, and organizers should know why: the Voting Rights Act of Virginia (Va. Code Title 24.2, Ch. 1.1) supplies a state-law substitute for what Callais removed.

• § 24.2-126 prohibits any state or local practice that results in, is likely to result in, or is intended to result in denial or abridgement of a protected class’s right to vote, judged on the totality of the circumstances. Amended and strengthened in 2026 by HB 967 (Chapter 717), signed August 6, 2026.
• § 24.2-129 requires a locality to obtain a “certification of no objection” from the Attorney General — a state-level preclearance — before enacting a “covered practice.” Covered practices include converting district seats to at-large seats, redrawing local district or ward boundaries, restricting language-assistance or non-English election materials, and reducing, consolidating, or relocating polling places.

That last item is the practical one. If a locality moves or closes polling places before November, § 24.2-129 is the hook, and it does not depend on federal Section 2 surviving.

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Officials in Key Positions

Governor

SourceGovernor’s office EO 13 and EO 16; Virginia Mercury, July 31, 2026; Ballotpedia News, May 22, 2026; Ballotpedia, State of Election Policy Legislation 2026 Mid-Year Report, Aug 27, 2026Name: Abigail Spanberger Party: D In office since: January 17, 2026 (Virginia’s 75th governor and first woman to hold the office; Glenn Youngkin was term-limited) Key documented actions: Restored voting and other civil rights to 66,085 Virginians by July 31, 2026, reversing the petition-based process used under Youngkin. Signed Executive Order 13 (March 24, 2026) directing ELECT to complete any purge of ineligible voters at least three months before a federal election, requiring daily DMV data transfers, and rejoining ERIC. Signed Executive Order 16 (May 20, 2026) directing ELECT to issue guidance for election workers on federal civil immigration arrests at polling places. Signed HB 1441/SB 783 and HB 286/SB 337 on April 22, 2026. Publicly backs Ballot Question 3. Also documented: Vetoed HB 650 / SB 351, which would have barred immigration enforcement within 40 feet of a polling place, recount location, or electoral board meeting place and restricted it at other non-election sites. Her veto message said the bills would force security staff and local police to choose between violating state and federal law. The sponsor, Sen. Saddam Salim (D), publicly disagreed. Legislators did not attempt an override. Ballotpedia recorded five election-bill vetoes, the most in any Democratic-trifecta state since Michigan in 2024.

State Board of Elections / Commissioner of Elections

SourceELECT news release on resuming ERIC membership; Virginia Mercury, Aug 20, 2026; UW State Democracy Research Initiative tracker, Sept 4, 2026Name: Steven Koski, Commissioner of Elections Agency: Virginia Department of Elections (ELECT), Washington Building, 1100 Bank Street, Richmond 23219 Key documented actions: Completed Virginia’s re-entry to ERIC and signed the membership agreement in 2026 under EO 13. Is the named defendant in both United States v. Koski (the dismissed DOJ voter-data suit) and Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights v. Koski (the settled purge case) — in each, in his official capacity as the successor to Susan Beals. Open issue: During the summer of 2026, registrars were instructed not to fully process voter registrations from people with felony convictions, and online registration was blocked for King v. O’Bannon class members. The court recorded these failures as fixed in its August 20 order. Voters affected should verify their own record rather than assume.

Attorney General

SourceCampaign Legal Center, Apr 20, 2026; Virginia Mercury, Aug 20, 2026; UW State Democracy Research Initiative tracker, Sept 4, 2026Name: Jay Jones Party: D In office since: January 17, 2026 Key documented actions — defense: Issued an official advisory opinion on April 17, 2026 concluding that removing voters during the NVRA quiet period under the challenged purge program violates the NVRA; the parties settled the same day. Joined the multistate suit against Executive Order 14399 in April 2026 and Virginia is a plaintiff in the litigation now blocking the USPS mail-ballot rule. Successfully defended Virginia against the DOJ’s demand for the statewide voter file (dismissed July 14, 2026). Key documented actions — obstruction: Sought and obtained an extension of the King v. O’Bannon compliance deadline from May 1 to June 1, 2026, then produced a list of 284 statutory felonies his office said could still disenfranchise. The ACLU of Virginia’s legal director Eden Heilman said the office “created a process that erected new barriers to registration and robbed many newly eligible voters of the opportunity to participate in the August primary elections.” Judge Gibney rejected the list on August 20, 2026.

U.S. Senators

There has never been a Senate floor vote on the SAVE America Act, so no senator has a vote on it to attribute. The column below reports stated position, not a vote.

Senator	Party	SAVE Act position	Voter roll cooperation stance	2026 status
Mark Warner	D	Opposed; has publicly argued it would suppress citizens’ votes	Opposes DOJ voter roll demands	On the ballot Nov 3, 2026, seeking a fourth term. Faces Bert Mizusawa (R), who won the Aug 4 GOP primary. Cook Political Report rates the seat Solid Democratic
Tim Kaine	D	Opposed; same public position	Opposes DOJ voter roll demands	Not up in 2026

Correction to earlier editions of this playbook: Warner is not retiring and this is not an open seat. He was unopposed for the Democratic nomination after the April 2 filing deadline.

Key U.S. House Members (Competitive Districts)

All eleven Virginia House members are seeking re-election under the 2021 map.

Member	District	Party	2026 race status	Election-relevant note
Jen Kiggans	VA-2	R	Most competitive district in the state	Hampton Roads: Virginia Beach, the Eastern Shore, parts of Chesapeake, Suffolk, Franklin, Southampton, Isle of Wight. Faces former Rep. Elaine Luria (D) in a rematch of 2022
Eugene Vindman	VA-7	D	Competitive per the Virginia Public Access Project	Prince William, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Culpeper, Fredericksburg. Incumbent since 2024
Suhas Subramanyam	VA-10	D	Northern Virginia; Democratic-leaning	Loudoun, Fauquier, Rappahannock, Manassas, Manassas Park, parts of Fairfax and Prince William. Succeeded Rep. Jennifer Wexton in 2024
John McGuire	VA-5	R	Contested	Charlottesville through Lynchburg and Danville. Faces Tom Perriello (D), who won the Aug 4 primary
Rob Wittman	VA-1	R	Rated lean Republican	Named a Democratic target this cycle

Correction to earlier editions of this playbook: VA-7 is held by Eugene Vindman (D), not Derrick Anderson (R). VA-10 is held by Suhas Subramanyam (D).

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Official Statements on Election Integrity

Statements Indicating Threat

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Office of the Attorney General of Virginia — June 2026

Produced a list of 284 statutory felonies that it said could still disenfranchise a Virginian, notwithstanding the King v. O’Bannon injunction limiting disenfranchisement to 11 common-law felonies. The list included illegal use of tear gas. (documented court filing)

SourceVirginia Mercury, Aug 20, 2026; ELECT, “Virginia Crimes Applicable to Common Law Felonies in 1870” Evidence tier: Documented Context: Judge Gibney rejected the list: “Perhaps a court could find someone guilty of common-law mayhem for using noxious gases to harm another, but a person found guilty of [that crime] is not a person found guilty of common-law mayhem. That person can vote.” The practical cost was measured in missed primary ballots, not in theory.

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Virginia Department of Elections (administrative practice) — May–August 2026

Registrars were instructed not to fully process new voter registrations from people with felony convictions, and King v. O’Bannon class members were prevented from registering online. (documented practice; internal instructions obtained by the Virginia Mercury)

SourceVirginia Mercury, June 18 and Aug 20, 2026 Evidence tier: Documented Context: Judge Gibney wrote that “the Commonwealth lagged — sometimes egregiously so — in implementation. They failed to register the named plaintiffs, left misinformation on their webpages, and prevented class members from registering online.” He also recorded that “the parties agree the Commonwealth fixed these failures.”

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Glenn Youngkin, former Governor — 2022–2026

Ended automatic restoration of voting rights for people who had completed felony sentences, replacing it with an individual petition process. Signed Executive Order 35 in August 2024, on the first day of that year’s NVRA quiet period, directing daily voter-roll removals of people who had not confirmed citizenship to the DMV. Withdrew Virginia from ERIC in 2023 and vetoed a 2024 bill to rejoin. (documented executive actions)

SourceVirginia Mercury; NPR, May 11, 2023 and July 1, 2026; Campaign Legal Center Evidence tier: Documented Context: More than 1,600 voters were removed and thousands more flagged before the 2024 election, including eligible citizens. The Supreme Court allowed the program to proceed in 2024 without explanation. That program is the one the April 2026 settlement ended.

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Statements Indicating Defense of Fair Elections

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Judge John A. Gibney Jr., U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia — King v. O’Bannon, Jan 22 and Aug 20, 2026

Held that Article II, Section 1 of the Virginia Constitution violates the Virginia Readmission Act of 1870, and that Virginia may disenfranchise only for the 11 felonies recognized at common law in 1870: arson, burglary, escape or rescue from jail, larceny, manslaughter, mayhem, murder, rape, robbery, sodomy, suicide. On Aug 20 he reaffirmed: “This case is simple. The Virginia Readmission Act gives a straightforward rule, and this Court’s injunction reflects that rule.”

SourceCourt rulings, King v. O’Bannon (E.D. Va.); WilmerHale, Jan 28, 2026; Virginia Mercury, Aug 20, 2026 Evidence tier: Documented Context: More than 260,000 Virginians were covered by the January ruling. Counsel were WilmerHale (pro bono), Protect Democracy, and the ACLU of Virginia.

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Attorney General Jay Jones — April 17, 2026

Issued an official advisory opinion that removing voters during the NVRA quiet period under the challenged purge program violates federal law.

SourceCampaign Legal Center, Apr 20, 2026 Evidence tier: Documented Context: The parties settled Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights v. Koski the same day; the court approved it April 20. Virginia agreed to stop removals within 90 days of federal elections and to let the plaintiff organizations use litigation data to re-register affected voters.

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Gov. Abigail Spanberger — May 19–20, 2026

“Throughout history, we have seen efforts at intimidating voters. My worry is that we will continue to see those heightened. The reality is that the challenges and the fear that people might have when going to the polling place is real.”

SourceNBC News, May 19, 2026; Executive Order 16, May 20, 2026 Evidence tier: Documented Context: EO 16 directs ELECT to consult stakeholders and issue guidance to election workers on handling federal civil immigration arrests at a polling place while polls are open or ballots are being counted, or within an hour of opening or closing. No deadline was set for the guidance.

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Step-by-Step Defense Playbook

For Every Voter in Virginia

Polls are open 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. If you are in line at 7:00 p.m., stay in line — you are entitled to vote.

1. Register or verify your registration now

→ https://vote.elections.virginia.gov/ → Registration deadline: Friday, October 23, 2026 (online, by mail, or in person) → Same-day registration IS available in Virginia. After October 23 and through Election Day you may register in person at your registrar’s office or your polling place and vote a provisional ballot. Do not let anyone tell you the deadline ends your ability to vote → If you moved, changed your name, or have not voted in several cycles, check your record — do not assume

1. Know your ID requirements — Virginia is not a strict photo-ID state

→ Accepted: Virginia driver’s license or DMV ID (current or expired); U.S. passport or passport card; U.S. military ID; any federal, Virginia, or local government-issued ID; employee photo ID; a valid student ID from any Virginia public or private high school or college, or from any U.S. college; a voter ID card issued by ELECT; voter confirmation documents; a tribal ID from one of the 11 Virginia-recognized tribes; a government-facility nursing home resident ID → Non-photo documents count: a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, or paycheck showing your name and address, or any other current government document with your name and address. These may be physical or electronic and must be less than 12 months old → If you have no ID at all, you can still cast a regular ballot by signing an ID Confirmation Statement at the polls, subject to felony penalties for a false statement. You are only pushed to a provisional ballot if you have no ID and decline to sign → Free voter photo ID is available from your local general registrar’s office → Not accepted: out-of-state driver’s licenses, out-of-state high school IDs, private membership or credit cards with a photo, and Virginia Driver Privilege Cards

1. If you have a felony conviction — know your rights

→ Under King v. O’Bannon, as reaffirmed on August 20, 2026, Virginia may disenfranchise you only for one of these 11 offenses: arson, burglary, escape or rescue from jail, larceny, manslaughter, mayhem, murder, rape, robbery, sodomy, suicide → If your conviction is not one of these 11, you may be eligible to vote now — regardless of any longer list a state office may have circulated → Gov. Spanberger separately restored rights to 66,085 people between January and July 2026 through the executive process. Check whether you are among them at https://www.restore.virginia.gov/ → The registration form still asks whether you have been convicted of a felony, and Va. Code § 24.2-1016 makes a false statement on it a felony. If you are unsure how to answer, get help before you sign — contact the ACLU of Virginia (acluva.org) or your general registrar rather than guessing → If your registration is marked incomplete or stalls, contact legal assistance immediately and call 866-OUR-VOTE. The court has already found the Commonwealth was out of compliance once → Ballot Question 3 on this ballot would make restoration automatic on release from incarceration and write a fundamental right to vote into the Virginia Constitution

1. If you plan to vote by mail (absentee)

→ Virginia has no-excuse absentee voting — any registered voter may vote by mail, and you can join the permanent absentee list to receive a ballot for every future election → Request deadline: 5:00 p.m., Friday, October 23, 2026. Your request must be received by your registrar by then. Apply at https://vote.elections.virginia.gov/VoterInformation → Ballots begin going out 45 days before the election — September 18, 2026 → Return deadline (two ways, and both count): delivered to your general registrar’s office or a drop-off location by 7:00 p.m. on Election Day; or postmarked on or before Election Day and received by your registrar by noon on Friday, November 6, 2026 → Drop-off locations bypass USPS entirely, and this is the single most robust hedge. Virginia law (§ 24.2-707.1) requires a drop-off location at your general registrar’s office, at every early-voting satellite office in operation, and at every polling place on Election Day. Locations are posted on your locality’s website and at the registrar’s office at least 55 days before the election → Track your ballot at https://ballot.elections.virginia.gov/voter/va/bt/track (Fairfax and Prince William counties have their own trackers) → First-time-by-mail voters who registered by mail without sending ID may need to include an ID copy with the ballot. You will get a notice with your ballot if this applies to you. Without it, your ballot is treated as provisional and counted only if you get ID to the electoral board by the deadline → Given the federal USPS litigation, do not mail late. See USPS Mail Ballot Guide. Return your ballot as early as you can, and prefer a drop-off location or in-person early voting if that is practical for you. That advice is correct whichever way the Supreme Court rules

1. Know your early voting window — it opens in days

→ Friday, September 18, 2026 through 5:00 p.m. Saturday, October 31, 2026 — 44 days → Every locality in Virginia offers early in-person voting at the general registrar’s office; many add satellite locations → Registrar offices are open for early voting on Sunday, October 18; Saturday, October 24; Sunday, October 25; and Saturday, October 31 → Locations: https://vote.elections.virginia.gov/VoterInformation/PublicContactLookup → In-person early voting is unaffected by the federal mail-ballot litigation

1. Know what else is on your ballot

→ U.S. Senate, all 11 U.S. House seats, a House of Delegates District 20 special election, local offices, local referendums, and three proposed constitutional amendments → Question 1 — reproductive freedom. Question 2 — marriage equality. Question 3 — a fundamental right to vote and automatic restoration of voting rights on release from incarceration → Read the state’s own plain-language explanations, in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Korean: https://www.elections.virginia.gov/election-law/referenda/

1. Save these numbers before Election Day:

Resource	Contact
Election Protection (English)	866-OUR-VOTE
Election Protection (Spanish)	888-VE-Y-VOTA
Virginia ELECT (toll free)	(800) 552-9745
Virginia ELECT (direct)	(804) 864-8901 · info@elections.virginia.gov
Virginia Election Day complaint form	https://fs28.formsite.com/vaelect/yynt8fwwin/index.html
Virginia Attorney General	(804) 786-2071
ACLU Virginia	acluva.org

For Election Workers and Poll Watchers

1. Know 18 U.S.C. § 592. Armed federal troops at a polling place is a federal crime. Document it and call 866-OUR-VOTE immediately. See Federal Forces at Polling Sites Guide.

1. Virginia has stronger law here than any other state — use it. Under HB 1441 / SB 783 (2026), federal agents may not conduct any immigration enforcement activity within 500 yards of any polling place while polls are open or ballots are being counted, or within one hour before opening and one hour after closing. Under HB 286 / SB 337 (2026), the Governor may not call out the National Guard to intimidate, threaten, or deter voters. Note that the enacted 500-yard restriction is the law; a separate 40-foot bill (HB 650 / SB 351) was vetoed and is not in force.

1. Ask your registrar for the ELECT guidance issued under Executive Order 16 on handling a federal civil immigration arrest at a polling place. If your locality does not have it, ask ELECT at info@elections.virginia.gov before Election Day, not during it.

1. Firearms are restricted at polling places under Va. Code § 24.2-604.4, and within 100 feet of the State Board’s canvass meeting place under § 24.2-679(C). Drop-off locations carry the same conduct restrictions as polling places under § 24.2-707.1(A).

1. No voter is turned away. A voter without acceptable ID may sign an ID Confirmation Statement and cast a regular ballot. Offer that first. Only if they have no ID and decline to sign do they go to a provisional ballot — and then explain the cure: a copy of ID or a signed statement must be delivered to the local electoral board by noon on Friday, November 6, 2026. A Friday postmark is not enough.

1. A voter with a felony record who believes their rights are restored but does not appear on the rolls gets a provisional ballot. Do not adjudicate eligibility at the poll — that determination belongs to the electoral board. Given the King v. O’Bannon history in this state, assume the roll may be wrong before you assume the voter is.

1. A voter who arrives after October 23 and is not registered can register in person and vote provisionally through Election Day. Know this cold; it is the single most-missed Virginia rule.

1. Document every irregularity — date, time, location, description, witnesses, and photos where legal. Virginia law prohibits photographing marked or unmarked ballots inside the polling place.

1. Know the post-election calendar:

→ Local electoral board canvass: meets at or before 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 4, and may adjourn as needed for up to 10 calendar days from the election — longer only to accommodate a risk-limiting audit (§ 24.2-671) → Risk-limiting audits are required in a U.S. House general election year, conducted by local boards under ELECT supervision, before certification, with public observation guaranteed by statute (§ 24.2-671.2) → State Board of Elections: meets by the first Monday in December (December 7, 2026) to ascertain statewide results (§ 24.2-679) → Recount: a defeated candidate may petition when the margin is 1% or less of the votes cast for the two candidates; for a ballot question, 50 or more qualified voters may petition when the margin is 50 votes or 1%, whichever is greater (§ 24.2-800)

For Organizers and Advocacy Groups

1. The clock is the message: early voting opens September 18. Virginia is one of only four states voting this month. Every day of a 44-day window is a day a ballot is not sitting in the mail during a live Supreme Court fight.

1. Run a rights-restoration campaign now, not after Question 3. Thousands of Virginians are eligible today under King v. O’Bannon and do not know it, and the state itself circulated an over-broad list of disqualifying crimes as recently as June. Partner with reentry organizations, churches, jails and probation offices, and community groups. Nolef Turns, New Virginia Majority, and the ACLU of Virginia are working this directly.

1. Explain Question 3 accurately. It does three things: writes a fundamental right to vote into the Virginia Constitution; makes restoration automatic on release from incarceration; and replaces the outdated “mentally incompetent” disqualification with a narrower standard requiring a court to find that a person cannot understand the act of voting. HB 964 and SB 164 are the implementing statutes and take effect only if it passes.

1. Correct the redistricting confusion. Some voters believe their district changed. It did not. The 2021 map governs. Voters who cast a ballot in the April 21 referendum and then saw it nullified are the exact population most at risk of concluding their vote does not count.

1. Watch local government, not just Congress. With Section 2 of the federal VRA no longer enforceable after Callais, the live tool against a polling-place closure, an at-large conversion, or a local boundary change is § 24.2-129 of the Voting Rights Act of Virginia — the Attorney General’s certification of no objection. Ask your county or city whether it has published a covered practice; the notice is required to be on the locality’s official website.

1. Deploy observers where the stakes are concentrated:

→ Hampton Roads — VA-2, the state’s most competitive district → Prince William, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Fredericksburg — VA-7 → Richmond, Norfolk, Petersburg — large formerly incarcerated populations, and the population most affected by registration friction → Loudoun and Prince William — VA-10, and among the fastest-growing localities in the state

1. Build a rapid-response legal team:

→ ACLU Virginia: acluva.org → Campaign Legal Center: campaignlegal.org → Protect Democracy → Democracy Docket: democracydocket.com → Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights: 866-OUR-VOTE

1. Coordinate with: Brennan Center for Justice, League of Women Voters of Virginia, NAACP Virginia State Conference, New Virginia Majority, Nolef Turns, Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights.

For Lawyers

1. The NVRA quiet period is live, not prospective. It began August 5, 2026. Any systematic removal program operating now is presumptively unlawful and immediately actionable. In Virginia you have three independent hooks: the NVRA itself, the April 2026 settlement in Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights v. Koski, and Executive Order 13, which directs ELECT to complete removals at least three months before a federal election. Note that Republican officials in Arizona and Ohio are pressing to reinterpret the quiet period using arguments Virginia Republicans made in 2024 — this is contested ground even where the text is not.

1. **Continue building the King v. O’Bannon compliance record.** The August 20 order recorded specific failures as fixed. Every new “incomplete” classification, processing delay, or registrar applying the rejected 284-felony list is evidence that the fix did not hold, and supports both further enforcement and, if warranted, contempt.

1. Prepare emergency TRO templates for:

• Refusal to process a rights-restoration or King v. O’Bannon-eligible registration
• Voter challenges targeting people with felony records or naturalized citizens at the polls
• Immigration enforcement inside the 500-yard perimeter under HB 1441 / SB 783
• Extended polling hours for registration or same-day-registration processing delays
• Provisional ballot counting and ID-cure disputes before the noon-Friday deadline
• Any late systematic roll removal inside the quiet period

1. Know the state VRA cold. Callais removed the federal Section 2 remedy; § 24.2-126 and § 24.2-129 did not go with it. § 24.2-129’s certification-of-no-objection requirement covers polling-place reductions, consolidations, and relocations — the most likely late-cycle local action — and it operates prospectively, before the change may be administered.

1. Track the two federal appeals that touch Virginia voters. United States v. Koski is on appeal to the Fourth Circuit (No. 26-2002) after DOJ’s July 24 notice; Maryland’s parallel dismissal is also before the Fourth Circuit, so the circuit will likely speak to Title III’s scope. And the USPS rule’s fate rests on a pending Supreme Court stay application filed September 6–7, 2026.

1. Establish Election Day rapid-response coverage in Richmond, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Fairfax, Prince William, and Loudoun.

1. Prepare for post-Question-3 implementation. If Question 3 passes, HB 964 and SB 164 take effect and ELECT must build an automatic-restoration pipeline. The state’s track record on implementing King v. O’Bannon is the reason to have compliance frameworks and, if needed, court orders ready in advance rather than in January.

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Key Contacts and Resources

Resource	Contact	Purpose
Election Protection (English)	866-OUR-VOTE	Report Election Day problems
Election Protection (Spanish)	888-VE-Y-VOTA	Spanish-language help
Virginia ELECT	elections.virginia.gov · (800) 552-9745 · (804) 864-8901	Registration, polling places, deadlines
Virginia ELECT email	info@elections.virginia.gov	General questions, EO 16 guidance
Virginia voter registration and absentee portal	vote.elections.virginia.gov	Register, verify, request a mail ballot
Virginia ballot tracker (Ballot Scout)	ballot.elections.virginia.gov/voter/va/bt/track	Track your absentee ballot
Local general registrar lookup	vote.elections.virginia.gov/VoterInformation/PublicContactLookup	Early voting sites, drop-off locations
Virginia Election Day complaint form	fs28.formsite.com/vaelect/yynt8fwwin/index.html	File a formal complaint with ELECT
Restoration of Rights	restore.virginia.gov	Check or apply for rights restoration
Virginia Attorney General	oag.state.va.us · (804) 786-2071	Civil rights violations
ACLU Virginia	acluva.org	Legal assistance, rights restoration
Campaign Legal Center	campaignlegal.org	Purge and restoration litigation
Democracy Docket	democracydocket.com	Election litigation tracker
Brennan Center	brennancenter.org	Voting rights research
New Virginia Majority	newvirginiamajority.org	Voter engagement and mobilization

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Sources

1. Virginia Department of Elections, “Upcoming Elections — November 3, 2026 General and Special Elections,” elections.virginia.gov (retrieved Sept 7, 2026) — registration, early voting, and mail-ballot request deadlines.
2. Virginia Department of Elections, “Absentee and Early Voting,” elections.virginia.gov (retrieved Sept 7, 2026) — mail return deadline, drop-off locations, permanent absentee list, federal first-time-voter ID rule.
3. Virginia Department of Elections, “Voting on Election Day,” and “Acceptable Forms of Voter Identification” (rev. 07/2025) — ID list and the ID Confirmation Statement.
4. Virginia Department of Elections, “Registration,” and “Referenda” — same-day registration and the three November 2026 constitutional amendments.
5. King v. O’Bannon, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (Judge John A. Gibney Jr.), Jan 22, 2026 ruling and Aug 20, 2026 order.
6. Virginia Mercury, “Judge affirms ruling in favor of former felons in voting rights lawsuit,” Aug 20, 2026.
7. Virginia Mercury, “Some former felons, eligible to vote this summer, are in registration limbo,” June 18, 2026.
8. Virginia Mercury, “Spanberger restores voting rights to more than 60,000 Virginians,” July 31, 2026.
9. Washington Post, “Virginia was ordered to stop barring many felons from voting. The issue persists,” Sept 1, 2026.
10. WilmerHale, “WilmerHale Secures Landmark Voting Rights Victory in Virginia,” Jan 28, 2026.
11. Campaign Legal Center, “VICTORY: Virginia Ends Illegal Voter Purge Program,” Apr 20, 2026 (Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights v. Koski).
12. Democracy Docket, “In voting rights win, Virginia agrees to stop mass voter purges near Election Day,” Apr 20, 2026.
13. NPR, “A federal law bans late voter roll purges. Republicans are pushing to reinterpret it,” July 1, 2026.
14. Supreme Court of Virginia, Scott v. McDougle, May 8, 2026 (4–3); VPM, “Supreme Court Declines to Intervene in Virginia Redistricting,” May 8, 2026.
15. NPR, “Supreme Court is death knell for Virginia’s Democratic-friendly congressional map,” May 15, 2026.
16. Virginia Mercury, “US Supreme Court decision ends Virginia’s redistricting fight, reshapes 2026 races,” May 18, 2026.
17. Ballotpedia, “Redistricting ahead of the 2026 elections,” updated Aug 7, 2026.
18. Ballotpedia News, “Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signs order requiring state to issue guidance on immigration enforcement at polling places,” May 22, 2026 (HB 1441/SB 783, HB 286/SB 337, EO 16, HB 650/SB 351 veto).
19. Ballotpedia, “State of Election Policy Legislation 2026 Mid-Year Report,” Aug 27, 2026 (46 bills signed, five election vetoes, HB 964, SB 176).
20. The Virginia Independent, “Gov. Spanberger signs order to ensure fair, secure, and accurate Virginia elections,” Mar 25, 2026 (Executive Order 13, ERIC, NVRA three-month rule).
21. Election Law Blog / Charlottesville Community Engagement, “Governor Spanberger marks 61st anniversary of Voting Rights Act by signing election security bills,” Aug 2026 (HB 215, HB 967, HB 972).
22. Brennan Center for Justice, “State Voting Laws Roundup: May 2026.”
23. UW State Democracy Research Initiative, “Tracker: DOJ Lawsuits Seeking States’ Sensitive Voter Data,” updated Sept 4, 2026 (United States v. Koski, dismissal 7/14/26, Fourth Circuit appeal 7/24/26, No. 26-2002).
24. Just Security, “Zero Evidence: Courts and Grand Juries Block Trump Administration Investigations,” July 20, 2026 (holding in the Virginia voter-data dismissal).
25. Virginia Mercury, “Virginia joins multi-state lawsuit challenging Trump’s election order,” Apr 3, 2026.
26. Votebeat, “Update: Supreme Court to decide fate of Trump administration’s proposed mail-ballot rules,” updated Sept 6, 2026.
27. Brennan Center, “Federal Court Blocks U.S. Postal Service from Interfering with Mail Ballots,” Sept 4, 2026.
28. SCOTUSblog, “Trump administration again appeals mail-in ballot dispute to the Supreme Court,” Sept 6, 2026.
29. Council on Foreign Relations, “The Battle Over Mail-in Voting May Disrupt the 2026 Midterm Elections,” Sept 3, 2026.
30. ABC News, “5 things to know about the Supreme Court’s landmark decision on the Voting Rights Act,” Apr 29, 2026 (Louisiana v. Callais).
31. Campaign Legal Center, “The U.S. Supreme Court Has Eviscerated the Voting Rights Act — What’s Next?” Apr 30, 2026.
32. Bipartisan Policy Center, “Six Things to Know About the SAVE America Act,” updated July 17, 2026.
33. Code of Virginia § 24.2-126 (voter suppression prohibited; amended 2026 c. 717 / HB 967), § 24.2-129 (covered practices; certification of no objection), § 24.2-604.4 (firearms at polling places), § 24.2-643(B) (voter ID), § 24.2-671 (electoral board canvass), § 24.2-671.2 (risk-limiting audits), § 24.2-679 (State Board ascertainment), § 24.2-707.1 (drop-off locations; amended 2026 c. 1078), § 24.2-800 (recounts), § 24.2-1016 (false statements).
34. WTOP, “Virginia voter guide: Parties nominate candidates for Congress, local offices ahead of 2026 midterms,” June 18, 2026; ABC News, “Virginia live primary results,” Aug 5, 2026.
35. Virginia Scope, “Luria files lawsuit against Department of Elections questioning validity of Independent candidates’ signatures,” Sept 4, 2026.
36. Bolts, “Virginia Governor Restores Voting Rights for Thousands With Past Felony Convictions,” July 31, 2026.
37. 18 U.S.C. § 592 (federal troops at polls); National Voter Registration Act § 8(c)(2)(A) (90-day quiet period).

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Factual correction requests: If you believe information in this playbook is incorrect, please contact factcheck@patriot.university with the specific claim and any supporting documentation. We review all submissions and correct verified errors promptly.

Last Updated: September 7, 2026 Research method: Web research via Tavily, the Virginia Department of Elections, the Code of Virginia, Virginia Mercury/States Newsroom, VPM, Ballotpedia, Brennan Center, Campaign Legal Center, Democracy Docket, and the UW State Democracy Research Initiative DOJ litigation tracker. Evidence tiers applied per PU accountability profile standards.