Judge approves AG Herring’s agreement to extend voter registration deadline

RICHMOND (October 14, 2020) – Judge John A. Gibney, Jr. in the Eastern District of Virginia has approved Attorney General Mark R. Herring’s agreement that extends the deadline for voter registration by two days, through 11:59 PM on October 15, because of a registration system outage that lasted several hours, preventing Virginians from registering to vote on the final day before the deadline. Under the terms of the consent decree, Attorney General Herring has said that the Commonwealth will “take all action necessary to extend the October 13, 2020, registration deadline until 11:59 pm on Thursday, October 15, 2020.”

“Today’s agreement to extend the voter registration deadline is a big win for democracy. Any eligible Virginian who was not able to register to vote yesterday can now do so,” said Attorney General Herring. “I have made it a top priority over the last several months to protect Virginians’ right to vote by making it as easy, safe, and secure as possible, and this agreement is no different. I will continue to fight to make sure that every eligible Virginian can vote in this crucial election and that their vote will count.”

In the granted consent decree, Attorney General Herring agrees that the Commonwealth will:

• Take all action necessary to extend the October 13, 2020, registration deadline until 11:59 pm on Thursday, October 15, 2020

• Take all action necessary to provide notice to the public of the reopening and extension of this deadline

• Provide additional information to the public and to voters attempting to register of alternative methods by which individuals may register to vote, in the event of a system outage during the extension period

Late yesterday evening, Attorney General Herring asked the Court to extend the voter registration deadline following an hour-long registration system outage that prevented Virginians from registering to vote.

You can register to vote online here: https://www.elections.virginia.gov/

This extension will provide all eligible Virginians with the opportunity to participate in the 2020 November General and Special Elections by registering to vote on or before October 15, 2020.

Eligible Virginians may submit a voter registration application or update an existing voter registration record in any of the following methods:

• In-person to the office of their local general registrar by 5 pm on Thursday, October 15th

• By mail postmarked on or before Thursday, October 15th

• Online at elections.virginia.gov/voterinfo through 11:59 pm on Thursday, October 15th

• To an NVRA designated state agency, such as the DMV or a social services office, by October 15th

Currently, registered Virginia voters and eligible Virginians that have already submitted a registration application do not need to take any additional action.

Virginia Department of Elections Commissioner Chris Piper stated, “The Department welcomes today’s court decision to extend the voter registration deadline through Thursday, October 15th. This gives eligible Virginians additional time to register or update their current voter registration record. We encourage Virginians to access the Citizen’s Portal at elections.virginia.gov/voterinfo today or use one of the many other options available for registering to vote.”

In addition to registering to vote, Virginians may also check their current voter registration status, find their polling location and apply for an absentee ballot on the Department’s Citizen Portal at elections.virginia.gov/voterinfo.