Mason Votes

Registering to Vote in Virginia as a Mason student.

Interested in voting in Virginia in the Mason district? Good news, federal law allows college students to register to vote in their university’s district, as opposed to their parent’s district.

Here’s what you need to know:

• To register to vote in Virginia, you must submit a voter registration application.
• When filling in the form, your dorm address (the address you use to get mail sent to the mail room) can serve as your legal residence for the purpose of voting.
• If you intend to vote absentee, you cannot legally do so in the area you attend school, unless it was your legal residence before attending the university.
  • So a student who registered to vote in Charlottesville but attending Mason in Fairfax can vote absentee in Charlottesville, but a student registered to vote in Fairfax and attending Mason in Fairfax cannot vote by absentee.
• You must include your Social Security number on the voter registration form or it will be discarded.
• Your registration is due at least 22 days before the election in which you plan to vote. You must bring it to a voter registration office by that date or have postmarked it by that date and sent it in via mail.
  • The latest date for the 2011 season would be October 17 2011.
  • For the 2012 presidential election it must be postmarked by October 15 2012.
  • If you wish to vote in the primaries, it must be sent in 22 days before that date.
    • At this point the primaries for Virginia are set at March 6, making the deadline February 13 2011.
• If you are mailing in your registration form, send it in to the Fairfax County Voter Registration office. Their address is:
  • 12000 Govt Ctr Pkwy, Ste. 323
  • Fairfax, VA 22035-0081
    • Google Map Link
• You can walk your registration form into the above address as well.
• If you wish to physically deliver your registration to a closer location, you can also do so at the Fairfax City Sisson House (in walking distance), their address is below. However, to avoid any delay in your registration you should deliver it before the latest registration date, as they must send all forms to the Fairfax County location.
  • Sisson House
  • 10455 Armstrong St.
  • Fairfax, VA 22030-3640
    • Google Map Link
• When mailing or walking in your registration form, you can include a photocopy of a current valid photo ID, the most common of which is a driver’s licence. However, you do not need to include a photo ID during registration, as long as you bring it with you to the polls.

Voting at Mason

Starting with the 2011 November elections, George Mason University will be the voting location for all who are registered to vote with their addresses at George Mason University. The polling will happen in the new University Hall building.

Polls will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and all voters should anticipate a wait which, depending on when you go to vote, may be significant.

Even if your registration included a photo ID, you should bring a government-issued photo ID to insure that the process goes smoothly. Your driver’s licence or passport is preferred. If you do not have either you should bring your Mason ID and any other government-issued ID you might have.

Before going to vote, especially if it has been a while since you registered, you should check to make sure your registration is still valid. You can do so online through Virginia’s Election and Registration Information System.

Voting Absentee?

It’s a two-step process in Virginia:

• APPLY with local registration office. Use this form.
• Download the form and mail no later than 22 days before the election you wish to vote in. You must mail it to your local registration office to apply for the ballot.
• Receive your ballot by mail, complete it, and MAIL BALLOT to local registration office. It must be received by Nov. 1.

OR vote in-person absentee by Nov. 1. You apply and vote at the same time. Check your local registration office.

Don’t wait. Do it now!

Other important election information:

• You can vote absentee if your working and commuting time is 11 or more hours during the 13 hours the polls are open between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. Find your local registrar’s website.
• Check online for your polling place, voter registration info including district and precinct, absentee ballot status, what will be on your local ballot, and more.

Check the State Board of Elections in your home state if you would like to vote absentee in a state other than Virginia.

This information is based off of the Virginia State Board of Elections website, where you can find a lot more interesting and useful information about voting in Virginia.

You can find more information about the election and registering to vote at the Fairfax County Office of Elections and the City of Fairfax Electoral Board websites.