You can fix missing information on a Virginia provisional ballot

Starting Jan. 1, 2027, if your Virginia provisional ballot form has a material omission, your local registrar must review it before the electoral board decides whether the ballot is valid. The registrar must promptly contact you by phone or email, if available, and explain how to correct the omission. You can make the correction before noon on the Monday after Election Day. If you’re otherwise entitled to vote, your ballot counts.

The law also helps absentee voters. Previously, the state’s process for fixing an error on a returned absentee ballot covered only ballots received by the Friday before the election. That cutoff is gone, and the deadline to fix an error is 5:00 p.m. on the Monday after the election. The public list of absentee applications must be updated daily to show whether each application was accepted or rejected, the reason for a rejection, or the ballot’s status if the application was accepted. The state’s free tracking system must also be updated daily.

You do not need to apply for these protections. Provisional voters should watch for a call or email; absentee voters may receive a written or emailed notice and can check the state’s tracking system.

Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim carried SB 582. Del. Virgil Thornton carried HB 774, a companion bill with the same provisional-ballot cure process, and Del. Cia Price offered the House floor substitute that became the enrolled version of SB 582. SB 582 passed the Senate 21–19 and the House 64–35. Gov. Abigail Spanberger sent back changes that both chambers accepted, and it became law April 22, 2026.