CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – The General Assembly has moved the 2026 primaries in Virginia from June 16 to Aug. 4.

The Virginia Department of Elections was compelled by language buried around Page 344 of the 355-page HB29 budget bill to move the primary which had initially been for June 16.

According to an elections department release, “The primary date change is not contingent on the passage of the scheduled April 21, 2026 referendum, nor whether the referendum is held.”

The April 21 referendum, if it takes place and the Virginia Supreme Court does not nullify it, has voters decide a Congressional redistricting map through 2030 that would move Charlottesville and Albemarle County from the 5th District to the 6th.

The primary date change means all the starting and deadline dates leading up to the primary change, as well.

UVA politics professor Larry Sabato told Cville Right Now moving the primary up to August, much closer to the November election, may make some subtle differences, but nothing dramatic.

He said historically, Virginia has had primaries ever later, “Virginia’s actually had primaries in modern times as late as early September, even late September, because of redistricting.”

“This is not relatively late, and I lived through decades when we had the primaries in July and the runoffs in August, mid-August usually.”

Early in-person voting that was supposed to begin March 6 is now, according to the department, beginning June 19.

“General registrar offices closed in observance of the statewide Juneteenth holiday will begin early in-person voting on June 18.”

Requested absentee ballots will be mailed no later than June 19, including ballots to registered military and overseas voters.

Any registered voter can request an absentee ballot in person, by mail, the online Citizen Portal, or by contacting their general registrar’s office.

The deadline to request a mailed absentee ballot is July 24.

“Absentee ballots can be dropped off at the general registrar’s office or a designated drop-box location during the early voting period, or at polling locations on Election Day.”

“Absentee ballots returned by mail must be postmarked no later than Aug. 4 and received by the general registrar by noon on Aug. 7.”

The primary date change also changes the deadline for registering to vote in the primary.

The registration deadline is moved to July 24.

According to the release, “Starting July 25, voters can register and vote via a provisional ballot using same-day registration. Same-day registration must take place in person either at an early voting location for the jurisdiction in which the voter intends to register or at their designated polling location on Election Day based upon their residence.”

Voters with questions about absentee voting early in-person or by mail can call their general registrar’s office or the Department of Elections at 1-800-552-9745 or email info@elections.virginia.gov.

“Candidate filing deadlines for U.S. House of Representative candidate,” according to the VDOE, “have moved to May 26 (deadline extended due to holiday) for party candidates and August 4 for independent candidates. Filing deadlines for all other offices will remain April 2 for party candidates and June 16 for independents.”

As for shifting gears from an August primary to a November general election, “It’s certainly true if there’s a divisive primary in a party, they might have more difficulty reuniting, they certainly have less time to reunite before the early voting starts at the end of September.”

Sabato said the biggest challenge in an August primary is turnout, “Even when we had runoffs in August, the turnout would frequently decline from the original primary not just because candidates were eliminated, but also because most people go on vacation in early to mid August before school starts up again.”

A full list of candidates in all 2026 races can be found online at Virginia Dept. of Elections: Candidates & Referendums.