Legislation that passed the General Assembly in the 2026 session requires the Secretary of Administration to convene workgroups on two aspects of Virginia’s voter registration system. The first workgroup is examining the possibility of moving from the current process for voter registration that occurs as part of transactions at the Department of Motor Vehicles (“front-end, opt-out automatic voter registration”) to a process that would transmit the customer’s data to the Department of Elections and enable the customer to opt out of registration after the fact (“back-end, opt-out automatic voter registration”). VACo President Victor Angry was appointed to serve on this workgroup. The second workgroup is studying potential changes to the same-day registration process, in which voters may submit a voter registration form and vote a provisional ballot during early voting or on Election Day.
Automatic voter registration: The 2026 legislation directs the workgroup to consider the “effectiveness, efficiency, and security” of back-end, opt-out automatic voter registration relative to the current process and to identify the costs and benefits of moving to the more automated method, as well as barriers to implementation. The workgroup received presentations from the Department of Elections and DMV on Virginia’s current process, from the National Conference of State Legislatures on how automatic voter registration is administered in other states, and from top election officials in Minnesota and Nevada on their experiences implementing back-end, opt-out registration. Fourteen states (including Virginia) use a front-end, opt-out approach, while ten states and the District of Columbia operate back-end, opt-out systems. In reflecting on their experiences implementing back-end, opt-out systems, representatives from Minnesota and Nevada cautioned workgroup members that implementation dates should allow ample time for testing technology, refining processes, and training staff.
At the workgroup’s most recent meeting on August 26, members considered several potential policy proposals: maintaining the system as it is; maintaining the front-end, opt-out structure, but improving the process to reduce erroneous cancellations or other problems encountered by DMV customers; maintaining the front-end, opt-out structure, but increasing registration outreach by expanding registration at state agencies other than DMV and sending notices to residents who are eligible but unregistered; or moving to back-end, opt-out automatic registration. Members discussed a variety of considerations for each option, including potential benefits or inconvenience to voters, costs and agency capacity, challenges with communicating with voters via U.S. Mail, and workload challenges in local offices. The workgroup’s next meeting is scheduled for September 23, and a report is due November 1.
Same-day voter registration: This workgroup began by reviewing the current process for same-day registration in Virginia, which was established by legislation in 2020 and first implemented in 2022. This option is used most often for prospective voters on Election Day at polling places, and to a lesser degree during early voting; voters avail themselves of this option when they are not registered, or have moved and have not yet updated their address, or when their name does not appear in the pollbook. In these instances, the voter receives a provisional ballot and a registration application; after Election Day, the registration information is entered into the state’s voter registration system and the provisional ballot is reviewed by the electoral board to determine whether it can be accepted. Use of same-day registration has increased significantly, particularly during the most recent presidential election, and is heavily used in certain localities, such as localities that house institutions of higher education. A panel of general registrars shared challenges associated with same-day registration, including the difficulty in anticipating the volume of same-day registrants in each election and completing the required manual data entry within post-election deadlines. The workgroup also received a presentation from the National Conference of State Legislatures about the use of same-day registration in other states; 24 states and the District of Columbia have some version of same-day or election-day registration, and 21 of those states use provisional ballots for this purpose. Workgroup members discussed potential improvements to the process, such as IT enhancements that would minimize the use of handwritten voter applications (which now must be transcribed into the online system), as well as broader changes that would be needed to allow same-day registrants to cast regular ballots rather than provisional ballots, such as limited internet connectivity in the polling place. Variations in resources available to localities (including limitations in broadband service) are a key consideration in these discussions. The workgroup’s next meeting is September 9 and a report is planned to be submitted by November 1.
VACo Contact: Katie Boyle