Amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the Danville Electoral Board encourages voters to use absentee voting by mail for the City Council and School Board elections to be held on May 5.
Absentee voting, which begins Friday, is a two-step process. Voters first must complete an application for a ballot. Voters can request an application for an absentee ballot be mailed to them by calling the local office at (434) 799-6560 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Also, voters can complete an application for an absentee ballot online at elections.virginia.gov by using reason code “2A – My disability or illness.”
After the application is received and approved, the actual ballot will be mailed to the voter. Voters who choose the absentee option should do so as soon as possible so they can get their ballots in time to return them by mail by Election Day.
For voters who want to cast ballots in-person on Election Day, Danville Registrar Peggy Petty said a plan is in place for voting at the polls. The plan includes spacing voters as they check-in.
“When we hand voters a ballot, they will pick up a clean ink pen and go to a table to vote, put the used pen into a container and then insert the ballot into the voting machine,” Petty said. “We will not give out ‘I Voted’ stickers to avoid a point of contact.”
Also, building custodians will be asked to deep clean the facility before Election Day.
“Election workers will wipe down tables and door handles and wash their hands at least every hour,” Petty said. “Workers with gloves will take used ink pens from the containers and spray them down with disinfecting spray and wipe them dry with paper towels. We cannot allow voters to use their own pens as gel ink or felt tip pen ink would stick to scanner glass.”