CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Tuesday is Election Day with polls open 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Early voting turnout has already been much heavier than the 2022 midterms, according to the Virginia Public Access Project count provided by the Virginia Department of Elections.

As of Sunday, 160,574 early votes had been cast in the 5th Congressional District compared to 90,889 in the midterms four years ago. Statewide, those respective numbers were 1,634,194 compared to 976,558 through the 2022 Election Day.

134,515 were in-person in the 5th District compared to 66,686 in 2022, but the mail-in ballots are much more comparatively close at 26,059 to 24,203.

Albemarle County had 28,295 early votes as of Nov. 1 compared to 17,234 up until the election in 2022, with 22,559 in-person and 5,736 by mail.

The City of Charlottesville had 10,541 early voters compared to 5,985 in 2022, with 8,764 in-person and 1,777 by mail.

With early voting now over, local officials and advocates are reminding people to vote in their assigned precincts on Tuesday, not at the local registrars’ offices.

“I’ve been asked to inform you all it is only at your precincts where you can vote,” Lisa Hilgartner, President of the League of Women Voters of the Charlottesville Area, said. “It is not at your registrar’s office, and the registrar’s office is closed and will be closed again Tuesday.”

Local residents can find their precinct at vote411.org. There, they can find their precinct information and see what’s on their ballot.

Early in-person voting is over, but it is still not too late to submit a ballot by mail if one has already received their ballot.

“If you are returning your ballot by mail, it must be postmarked on or before election day (Nov. 3) and received by your general registrar’s office by noon on the third day following the election,” according to the Va. Department of Elections website. The deadline for this election is Friday at noon.

Voters can also take a ballot received by mail to a drop box. Albemarle County’s is at 1600 5th St. outside the voter registrar office, and Charlottesville’s is at the City Hall Annex at 120 7th St. at the Downtown Mall. Voters are still required to seal the ballot in the postage-paid return envelope, even if putting it in the drop box, and the deadline is 7 p.m. on Election Day.

If a voter applied for a mail-in ballot but has chosen to vote at their precinct on Election Day, they should bring that ballot to the polling place and hand it to the election official who will void it and give the voter a new ballot to mark and scan into the voting machine, according to the Albemarle registrar.

Albemarle County, Charlottesville ballot break-down

The ballots in Albemarle County and Charlottesville include the U.S. Senate race between Democrat incumbent Mark R. Warner and Republican Bert Mizusawa, as well as the House of Representatives race for the 5th District race with Democrat Tom S. P. Perriello, Republican incumbent John J. McGuire III, and Independent Cooke C. Harvey.

The ballots also have three proposed Virginia constitutional amendment questions.

The first amendment would enshrine reproductive rights in the constitution, protecting options like abortion and birth control as well as childbirth and both prenatal and postpartum care.

“Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to (i) protect the freedom to make personal decisions about prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion, miscarriage management, and fertility care; (ii) protect doctors, nurses, and patients from being punished for these decisions; and (iii) allow for restrictions on access to abortion during the third trimester of pregnancy except when the patient’s health is at risk or the pregnancy cannot survive?” the question reads.

The second amendment would remove the same-sex marriage ban that is still in the state constitution, which has been enforceable since same-sex marriage was legalized on the federal level in 2015.

“Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to (i) remove the ban on same-sex marriage; (ii) affirm that two adults may marry regardless of sex, gender, or race; and (iii) require all legally valid marriages to be treated equally under the law?” the question says.

The third would provide the right to vote to convicted felons who have been released from incarceration, while also revising the prohibition on voting for those found to be mentally incompetent, changing it to instead apply to “persons who have been found to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting.”

“Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended (i) to provide for the fundamental right to vote in the Commonwealth, (ii) to revise the qualifications of voters so that a person convicted of a felony is not entitled to vote during his period of incarceration but is automatically invested with the right to vote upon release from incarceration, and (iii) to update the existing prohibition on voting by persons found to be mentally incompetent to instead apply to persons who have been found to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting?” the question says.

Those questions have boxes to color in either “yes” or “no” beneath each question.

The final question on both the Charlottesville and Albemarle ballots are on a similar issue — a potential 1% additional sales tax levy in localities to fund school capital projects either for new construction or debt service of recent construction — but the questions are worded differently because each locality crafted its own ordinance up to limitations set in the enabling legislation passed by the 2026 General Assembly.

In Albemarle, the question under the heading Sales Tax reads, “Shall the County of Albemarle impose a one-percent (1%) sales and use tax to fund capital projects for the construction or renovation of schools, with revenues to be used solely for those purposes, and the tax to expire on June 30, 2046?” There are then boxes to fill in “yes” or “no.”

In Charlottesville, the question under the heading Additional Local Sales Tax for School Capital Projects reads, “Shall the City of Charlottesville, Virginia be authorized to levy a local general retail sales tax at a rate not to exceed one percent (1%), the revenues of which shall be used solely for capital projects for the construction or renovation of public schools serving the City of Charlottesville, and which shall expire on June 30, 2046?” This is also followed by boxes to fill in “yes” or “no.”

Surrounding counties ballot break downs

Fluvanna and Nelson Counties have the U.S. Senate, 5th District Congress, constitutional amendment, and local school sates tax questions.

Buckingham and Louisa counties have the Senate, 5th District Congress, and constitutional amendment questions, but do not have local school sales tax questions.

Greene, Madison, and Louisa counties as well as their incorporated towns have the U.S. Senate race, the constitutional questions, but do have the 7th District Congressional race. Those names on the ballot are Democrat incumbent Eugene S. Vindman, Republican Doug A. Ollivant, Libertarian Taner E. Demirci Lopez, Independent Alaha Ahrar, Independent Joshua E. Ertle, and Independent Randall E. Terry.

Greene County has a Board of Supervisors at-large race and the Town of Stanardsville is voting for a mayor.

The Orange County Town of Gordonsville has two town council races while the Town of Orange is electing three councilors.

In Louisa County, there is an election for mayor and two town councilors in the Town of Louisa and a mayor and six councilors in Mineral.