Why Virginia Officials Warn Against Relying on Mail-In Voting

President Donald Trump on Monday pledged to “get rid” of mail-in ballots for elections. While whatever he ultimately does shouldn’t affect mail-in voting for Virginia’s upcoming elections this November, there are some voting warnings Virginians need to be aware of.

Trump posted to his account on Truth Social: “I am going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS, and also, while we’re at it, Highly ‘Inaccurate,’ Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES, which cost Ten Times more than accurate and sophisticated Watermark Paper, which is faster, and leaves NO DOUBT, at the end of the evening, as to who WON, and who LOST, the Election. We are now the only Country in the World that uses Mail-In Voting. All others gave it up because of the MASSIVE VOTER FRAUD ENCOUNTERED.”

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While the president was speaking about changes to the congressional midterm elections of 2026, there are some things Virginians should know about mail-in voting as the early voting window for Virginia’s off-year elections opens in one month, on Sept. 19.

First, regardless of party, warnings against mail-in voting abound. Richmond’s general registrar, Keith Balmer, recently urged voters to avoid relying on the Post Office due to ongoing delays and disruptions. Instead, he encouraged using drop boxes, early in-person drop-off, or the use of provisional ballots—options that bypass mail entirely, according to an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

In the lead-up to the 2024 general election, Virginia Department of Elections Commissioner Susan Beals raised these concerns in an interview with the Virginia Mercury. She warned that ballots may be undelivered or arrive late, urging voters to send ballots early or use drop-off options. She emphasized that the typical assumption that the mail delivers within five days is no longer reliable.

Second, in 2023, Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed House Bill 1948 into law, permanently removing the requirement that people obtain a witness’ signature if they vote by mail-in ballot. The requirement had been suspended during the COVID-19 lockdowns when Virginia greatly expanded its early voting period and the list of allowable reasons to get an early ballot.

However, with more liberalized voting laws comes the likelihood of increased voter fraud. Voter fraud in Virginia is not a “myth,” as some would have you believe, especially with mail-in ballots.

For example, in 2008, then-Louisa County Commonwealth’s Attorney Tom Garrett indicted two people, Bonnie Nicholson and Bernard Pace, in connection to a scheme to request absentee ballots for elderly residents of a retirement community and influence their votes. This came to light when the daughter of a resident reported that she was concerned when her mother told her that she had voted despite her suffering from dementia.

And in 2016, former James Madison University student Andrew Spieles was convicted of knowingly transferring voter registration forms because he fraudulently registered 18 persons to vote in the 2016 election. He was caught when the registrar recognized the name of a recently deceased Rockingham County judge.

When HB 1948 repealed the witness requirement, it replaced it with the requirement that voters note their date of birth and last four digits of their Social Security numbers on their ballot return envelopes. However, with Trump announcing earlier this year that the Department of Government Efficiency had found that 12.4 million persons “over 120 years old” were still on the Social Security rolls with active Social Security numbers, one can see that—despite the best intentions of legislators—the potential for fraud with mail-in ballots is still enormous.