Friday is the first day of early voting for statewide and local primaries.
Virginia has 45 days of early voting. That's one of the longest in the country, and it means voting for the November general election will start in September. It also means voting for the June primary starts this week. Wes Bellamy at Virginia State University says the recent history of early voting is a role reversal from the long history of voter suppression in Virginia.
"The more opportunities that persons from the Commonwealth have to be able to engage in the electoral process, specifically voting, is only a benefit," Bellamy says. "And furthermore, when we look at Virginia's history of voter suppression, this is one of the ways in which we remedy that."
Virginia had a poll tax dating back to colonial days. It was eliminated in the 1880s, but then brought back in the era of Jim Crow. Jatia Wrighten at Virginia Commonwealth University points out that the state's poll tax was not eliminated until the 1960s.
"This is not that long ago, right? People who were born in 1965 are 60 right now," Wrighten says. "And so, I think there is much to this idea of addressing historical voter suppression in what is the capital of the Confederacy."
Republicans do not have a statewide primary this year, although they do have primaries in 10 House seats across Virginia. Democrats have three statewide primaries and 10 House primary elections.
You can find more information on how to cast your ballot here.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
