Can a friend, family member, or volunteer return another voter's sealed mailed absentee ballot to the post office or a drop-off location in Virginia?

Plain-English summary

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares concluded that a third party may, at the voter's request, return a completed mailed absentee ballot through the mail or at an authorized drop-off location. Code § 24.2-707 provides three return paths: by mail to the general registrar, by the voter in person to the registrar, or to a drop-off location under § 24.2-707.1. Only the direct in-person return path says “by the voter.” The AG reads that wording, changed from an earlier version that directed the voter to mail or personally deliver the ballot, as allowing another person to use the mail and drop-off paths.

The opinion distinguishes direct hand delivery to the registrar, which generally requires the voter, from deposit at a designated drop-off location. A footnote identifies narrow statutory provisions for authorized designees to return replacement or emergency absentee ballots directly when specified illness, disability, or medical emergency conditions apply. The opinion does not prescribe what drop-off staff should ask a depositor, require a depositor attestation, or analyze postal carrier procedures.

What this means for you

If you vote by mailed absentee ballot

After completing the ballot and affirmation on the envelope, you may ask another person to return it by mail or at a designated drop-off location. The opinion says the registrar must record receipt and check the voter affirmation statement before the ballot is unsealed, scanned, or counted. The opinion's permission concerns return at your request; it does not address someone taking your ballot without permission.

If you help a voter return a ballot

The opinion permits you to mail the completed ballot or deposit it at a designated drop-off location at the voter's request. It distinguishes those routes from handing it directly to the registrar under the statutory “by the voter in person” path. The opinion does not give instructions to postal or drop-off staff about verifying the depositor's identity.

If you administer absentee ballots

Apply the three paths in § 24.2-707 as the AG reads them: mail and drop-off returns are not limited to the voter personally, while ordinary direct in-person delivery to the registrar is. The opinion says returned ballots still undergo the registrar's required receipt and affirmation checks. It does not announce new counter procedures or attestation rules.

Common questions

Q: Can a friend return my mailed absentee ballot for me?
A: Yes, at your request, by mail or at an authorized drop-off location. That is the opinion's express conclusion.

Q: Can my friend hand the ballot directly to the registrar?
A: Generally no. The direct in-person route in § 24.2-707 says “by the voter,” and the opinion's footnote says a third party generally cannot personally deliver a completed ballot that way. Narrow authorized-designee exceptions exist for specified replacement and emergency ballots.

Q: Must drop-off staff make the person attest that they are the voter?
A: The opinion does not address deposit procedures or any attestation by the person returning the ballot. It answers who may use the mail and drop-off return routes.

Q: Does another person's return excuse the voter affirmation?
A: No. The opinion says the registrar verifies the required affirmation on every returned mailed absentee ballot before it is unsealed, scanned, or counted.

Background and statutory framework

Before its amendment, § 24.2-707 directed “the voter” to “mail it to the office of the general registrar or deliver it personally to the general registrar.” The amended wording says a mailed absentee ballot shall be returned by mail, by the voter in person to the registrar, or to a designated drop-off location. The AG concludes that the new wording makes only the second path personal to the voter and does not otherwise restrict transfer of a completed ballot to mail service or a drop-off location.

The opinion notes that § 24.2-707 excludes delivery by a personal courier or another individual from the definition of “mail” for direct delivery. It also notes narrow exceptions in §§ 24.2-703.2 and 24.2-705 allowing authorized designees to return ballots directly in specified illness, disability, or medical-emergency circumstances. Those provisions do not change the general mail and drop-off conclusion.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.oag.state.va.us/annual-reports-opinions/official-opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.oag.state.va.us/files/Opinions/2023/23-033-Byron-issued.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain; the linked PDF is authoritative.

COMMONWEALTH of VIRGINIA
Office of the Attorney General

Jason S. Miyares 202 North Ninth Street
Attorney General Richmond, Virginia 23219
804-786-2071
Fax 804-786-1991
Virginia Relay Services
800-828-1120
October 26, 2023

The Honorable Kathy J. Byron
Member, House of Delegates
Post Office Box 900
Forest, Virginia 24551

Dear Delegate Byron:

I am responding to your request for an official advisory opinion in accordance with § 2.2-505 of the Code of Virginia.

Issue Presented

You ask whether Virginia law permits a third party to collect mailed absentee ballots from voters in order to then return the ballots to the general registrar via mail or designated drop-off locations.

Response

It is my opinion that, under § 24.2-707 of the Code of Virginia, a mailed absentee ballot may be returned, at the request of the voter, by a third party through the mail or at a drop-off location.

Applicable Law and Discussion

Virginia law provides several methods by which a qualified voter may cast a ballot in an election conducted in the Commonwealth. In addition to voting in person, either at the polls on election day or at a designated location within 45 days of election day, Virginia voters may cast a "mailed absentee ballot." To vote via mailed absentee ballot, a voter first must submit an application for such ballot to the local general registrar. "If the application has been properly completed and signed and the applicant is a registered voter of the precinct in which he offers to vote, the general registrar shall . . . send" to the voter an unmarked absentee ballot and other required materials. The voter is then entitled to fill out the mailed absentee ballot with his choice of candidates. The voter is then instructed to "(a) enclose the [mailed absentee] ballot in the envelope provided for that purpose, (b) seal the envelope, (c) fill in and sign the [voter compliance affirmation] statement printed on the back of the envelope, (d) enclose the ballot envelope and any required assistance form . . . , and (e) seal that envelope."

Code § 24.2-707 governs the return of mailed absentee ballots to the general registrar. Ballots returned outside "the procedures set forth in this section" are void. Prior to 2021, the law expressly directed the voter, after sealing the ballot envelope, to "mail it to the office of the general registrar or deliver it personally to the general registrar." Current law provides that "[a] mailed absentee ballot shall be returned" in one of three ways: "(i) by mail to the office of the general registrar, (ii) by the voter in person to the general registrar, or (iii) to a drop-off location established pursuant to § 24.2-707.1." Regardless of which return method is used, the general registrar, upon receipt of every returned mailed absentee ballot, is required to mark the date of receipt in the voter's record and verify completion of the required voter affirmation statement; all returned mailed absentee ballots are subject to this review prior to being unsealed, scanned, or counted.

You ask whether Virginia law thus permits someone other than the voter to deliver completed mailed absentee ballots to the mail carrier or drop-off location on the voter's behalf.

"When the language of a statute is unambiguous, we are bound by the plain meaning of that language. Furthermore, we must give effect to the legislature's intention as expressed by the language used unless a literal interpretation of the language would result in a manifest absurdity." "[W]here possible, every word of a statute must be given meaning." In applying the plain language of a statute, "we must give 'proper grammatical effect . . . to the arrangement of words in a sentence of a statute,' and we must presume that the General Assembly understood basic rules of grammar when drafting the statute[.]" Moreover, when an amended statute is at issue, it is presumed that the General Assembly intended its statutory amendments to effectuate a change in law.

Unlike its previous iteration, which directed "the voter" to "mail . . . or deliver [his ballot] personally" to the registrar, current § 24.2-707 is written in the passive voice, whereby the statute initially refers to ballot returns more broadly and not specifically to any agent who is to facilitate the return. Per the terms of the current statute, the execution of none of the return methods, other than in-person delivery, is limited to being performed "by the voter." The Code does not otherwise restrict how a completed ballot is to be transferred from the voter to the mail service or drop-off location for ultimate return to the general registrar. As the Supreme Court of Virginia has observed, when the law intends for a specific action to be taken by a voter personally, such intent can be incorporated with ease. I therefore conclude that there is no general prohibition under Virginia law against the employment of a third party to assist a voter in returning his ballot via mail or drop-off location.

[Footnote: Although a third party generally is precluded from personally delivering a voter's completed ballot to the registrar, see § 24.2-707 (providing for "in person" delivery by the voter and excluding delivery by "personal courier service or other individual" from the definition of "mail"), the Code permits, in very narrowly prescribed circumstances, a qualified authorized designee to return a ballot directly to the registrar on a voter's behalf. See §§ 24.2-703.2 (providing for issuance and casting of replacement absentee ballots under specified conditions when necessary due to illness or disability of the voter); 24.2-705 (providing for issuance and casting of emergency absentee ballots under specified conditions when necessary due to medical emergencies of the voter or his close family members).]

Conclusion

Accordingly, it is my opinion that, under current Virginia law, a third party, upon request of the voter, may return a mailed absentee ballot through the mail or at a drop-off location.

With kindest regards, I am,

Very truly yours,

Jason S. Miyares
Attorney General

[Footnote: In reaching this conclusion I render no opinion on the wisdom of the current statutory framework governing mailed absentee ballots. This Office recognizes that "[t]he wisdom and propriety of [] statute[s] come within the province of the legislature."]