RICHMOND — The amount of voters who used same day registration this election doubled when compared to the last odd-year election.
The number of same day registration votes on Election Day in 2023 was 15,981, according to the Virginia Department of Elections. Unofficial results from the Virginia Elections website show at least 31,881 people used same day registration on Election Day this year.
Nearly 90,000 people used same day registration in the November 2024 presidential election, according to the Virginia Department of Elections.
Turnout this year at 54% of registered voters closely rivaled the 2021 election, according to the Virginia Department of Elections website. However, this election saw the highest total voter numbers for a nonpresidential election, with over 3.4 million Virginians voting.
Many Northern Virginia localities had over a 1,000 voters registered on Election Day, with 3,800 registered in Fairfax County. Richmond City registered the second highest total, and the highest for localities with a college or university. Harrisonburg City and Montgomery County, both home to colleges, also had high numbers of same day registration.
The registration method was first introduced in 2022. It gives voters the opportunity to register in person and vote the same day on a provisional ballot. Before this, the deadline to register was 21 days before the election. Voters whose qualification to vote is in question also use a provisional ballot.
The general registrar’s office processes the ballot, then sends it to the electoral board to either approve or reject it. The period to confirm a provisional ballot is days after the general election.
Twenty states and Washington, D.C. offer Election Day registration, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Same day registration reduces barriers faced by voters and increases participation, said Richard Meagher, a political science professor at Randolph-Macon College. Those demographics include first-time voters, young voters and low-income voters.
“It makes it easier for anybody who hasn’t voted before, or is less likely to vote, or has barriers to get to the polling place,” Meagher said. “They only have to make one trip.”
A 2022 study from the University of Chicago Press Journal showed same day registration significantly increases turnout among youth ages 18-24. The traditional registration process is harder for young voters as they are more likely to change addresses.
When same day registration is an option, the likelihood of voting in this age group increases by 6.9 percentage points, according to results from the study.
Early voting, absentee voting and same day registration increase voter turnout, Meagher said. The most popular voting process is early voting, which gives voters a big window until Election Day. There are 45 days of early voting in Virginia, which is one of the longest periods in the country.
“When you make it easier for people to vote, you get more votes,” Meagher said.
There has been an uptick in same day registration in Richmond since it was introduced back in 2022, according to David Levine, director and registrar for the Richmond City Office of Elections. There were over 3,300 same day registrations in 2024.
A total of 4,209 provisional ballots were cast in Richmond this year, according to Nicole Hicks, communications and outreach coordinator in the Laburnum Avenue registrar’s office.
Will Grayson used same day registration at George Washington Carver Elementary School because he is registered in Harrisonburg.
“I’m grateful that there was a way to move it, so I could still vote,” Grayson said.
Xavier McDaniel was motivated to go to the polls by economic and safety issues. McDaniel noticed people using same day registration at the University Student Commons at Virginia Commonwealth University.
“I mean the turnout’s awesome,” McDaniel said. “I think there’s a lot more people registering day-of than I’ve ever seen before.”
The Virginia Department of Elections is still collecting data for provisional ballots, and the counts will be finalized in the coming weeks.
Capital News Service is a program of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Robertson School of Communication. Students in the program provide state government coverage for a variety of media outlets in Virginia.
