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Voters across the country — particularly in Virginia, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania — will head to the polls next month for an off-year election that could offer an early read on both parties’ strength heading into 2026.
Virginia’s races include the governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general and have been brought to the fore of national conscience by the murder-text scandal enveloping Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones.
Virginia law now permits voters to register to vote on the same day as the election. If someone chooses this route, they will be asked to cast a provisional ballot; meaning a ballot that is later supposed to be vetted against voter roll and other information.
Every county from urban Arlington to far-flung Lee is also required to have at least one secure drop-box. Voters can typically find them outside county offices, courthouses or libraries.
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A Michigan voter inserts her absentee voter ballot into a drop box in Troy, Michigan on Oct. 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
Early voting in Virginia runs through Saturday, Nov. 1, ahead of Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 4.
Key issues in Virginia’s races include how candidates are aligning on transgender bathroom and school sports debates, with Republican gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears accusing Democrat Abigail Spanberger of failing to stand up for Virginia’s children.
That topic, as well as Jones’ texts envisioning the murder of a former GOP leader, led Earle-Sears to repeatedly interject in what she considered Spanberger’s vague or indirect answers at their sole debate held in Hampton Roads.
Earle-Sears warned voters in Smyth County on Thursday that Democrats will continue prior efforts to suppress fossil fuel development – which she said not only affects jobs in the coal-and-gas-rich southwest, but every Virginian’s power bill.
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