Drop boxes available in all 5 Henrico magisterial districts for June 8 primary elections

Henrico County has increased the number of locations where absentee ballots can be returned by those voting early in Virginia’s June 8 primary elections.

The Office of Voter Registration and Elections has installed five drop boxes – one in each magisterial district – where voters can submit their completed ballots:

• The Administration Annex building at the Henrico County Government Center, 4305 E. Parham Road;
• The Eastern Government Center, 3820 Nine Mile Road;
• Deep Run Park Recreation Center, 9900 Ridgefield Parkway;
• Dorey Park Recreation Center, 2999 Darbytown Road;
• Tuckahoe Area Library, 1901 Starling Drive.

The two government center locations, on Parham and Nine Mile, have outdoor drop boxes – as they did for last November’s general election. The boxes are accessible 24 hours a day and monitored by security cameras. The boxes at the recreation centers and library are indoors and available 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The June 8 primaries will decide the Democratic candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general as well as the Democratic and Republican candidates for the House of Delegates. In Henrico, the contested House races are for the Democratic nominee in the 68th and 74th districts and the Republican nominee in the 68th and 72nd districts.

Henrico’s decision to offer more drop boxes and to disperse them geographically makes sense given the popularity and success of early voting last year, Henrico Deputy Registrar Anne Marie Middlesworth said. The county has about 237,000 registered voters.

“We’re trying to spread the love,” she said. “The Board of Supervisors encouraged this approach, and we wholeheartedly agreed it was the right thing to do.”

The 2020 general election marked the first time Virginia allowed voters to cast absentee ballots before Election Day without approval based on a qualifying reason. In Henrico, more than 60% of 183,670 ballots were cast by absentee ballot. That compares to about 10% in 2008, 2012 and 2016.

For the June 8 primaries, voters also can request and return absentee ballots by mail or in-person at the government center locations of the Office of Voter Registration and Elections. The offices are open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays, May 29 and June 5.

If voters have not returned their absentee ballots before June 8, drop boxes will be available at all Henrico polling places to receive them.

The Republican Party of Virginia will hold a convention May 8 to choose Republican candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.

The 45-day early voting period in Virginia started Friday, April 23.

Monday, May 17 is last day to register or to update information to vote in the June 8 primaries.

Friday, May 28 is the last day to request an absentee ballot by mail or fax. All applications must be received by 5 p.m. in the Office of Voter Registration and Elections.

Saturday, June 5 is the last day to vote by absentee ballot in-person at locations of the Office of Voter Registration and Elections.

Those who want to vote in person June 8 may do so at their polling precinct between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m.