Welcome to Charlottesville Tomorrow’s 2026 Central Virginia Voter Guide!
The 2026 election season kicks off early this year with an important statewide special election.
Between March 6 and April 21, voters will be asked to decide whether to amend the Virginia Constitution to allow state lawmakers to redraw the congressional district map. Congressional district maps are usually redrawn only once every 10 years after the U.S. census. The amendment would allow Virginia to redraw its map earlier.
The special election is not the only deviation from our normal election schedule. This year, Virginia will host its primary elections on Aug. 4, more than a month later than the typical mid-June primary. Why? The later primary date is intended to give state officials time to redraw congressional districts and finalize new boundaries, if voters approve the amendment.
Once that primary election arrives, voters in central Virginia will likely be weighing in on party nominees for the state’s U.S. Senate and House of Representative seats representing the region in Congress. The winners of those contests will then face off against each other in the Nov. 3 general election.
For many central Virginia voters, these will be the only races that appear on your ballot. However, a handful of localities will also select new candidates for local offices.
During the general election, voters across the state will also decide three additional constitutional amendments addressing reproductive rights, marriage equality and the restoration of voting rights for people with felony convictions.
This guide is here to provide information to help you decide who you want to represent you. It covers all eligible races in 11 central Virginia counties and the City of Charlottesville. (It doesn’t include the greater Richmond area because there are more media outlets providing information on those races.) Charlottesville Tomorrow has published a voter guide for 20 years. We expanded beyond the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County in 2023, after we heard from many people that they wanted more information in the region.
Sometimes, it’s hard to get information about local races. If you have information or see an error in this guide, please reach out and let us know.
Help us make a voter guide that meets your needs
As part of Charlottesville Tomorrow’s annual Voter Guide, we send a list of questions to all registered candidates for each race in our central Virginia coverage area. This includes the City of Charlottesville; the counties of Albemarle, Appomattox, Buckingham, Cumberland, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, Orange and Prince Edward; and the towns of Scottsville, Appomattox, Pamplin, Dillwyn, Stanardsville, Louisa, Mineral, Madison, Gordonsville, Orange and Farmville.
We publish each returned Q&A with the candidates’ responses grouped under each question to help you, the voter, understand how they compare on the issues that matter most to you. (You can see an example of how this looks from last years’ guide here.)
What questions should we ask your candidates? You tell us!
To help serve voters, we’d like to know what issues and questions matter to you. Please take a few minutes to complete our two-question 2026 Voter Survey, and tell us what you would like us to ask candidates in your area.
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Support this work
Our urgent need for high quality, local information is only growing as things change rapidly. Let’s build up free-to-access information for and about the people here in central Virginia. You can support this work immediately with your one-time gift, or with a sustaining monthly donation. To find out more ways to sponsor this work through your individual investment or through a business or nonprofit partnership, reach out to mhood [at] cvilletomorrow.org.
Here are key dates and deadlines in the 2026 elections
| Friday, March 6, 2026 – Saturday, April 18, 2026 | Early voting for special election on constitutional amendment to allow state lawmakers to redraw the congressional district map. Voting is available weekdays at local registrar’s offices. Registrar’s offices will also be open for voting Saturday, April 11 and Saturday, April 18. |
| Friday, April 10, 2026, 5 p.m. | Deadline to apply to your local registrar’s office for your ballot to be mailed to you or to apply for an absentee ballot using the Citizen Portal for the special election. Requests must be received by your local registrar’s office by 5 p.m. |
| Wednesday, April 15, 2026 | Deadline to register to vote or update an existing registration for the special election. You can still vote in the special if you miss this deadline by registering at the polling place and casting a provisional ballot. |
| Tuesday, April 21, 2026 | Special Election Day! |
| Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026 | Primary Election Day! |
| Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026 | General Election Day! |
We will update this list periodically as deadlines approach or we receive new information.
Register to vote, check your registration, find your polling places and apply to vote absentee at the Virginia Department of Elections here. Remember, even if you miss registration deadlines, you can register through Election Day and vote using a provisional ballot.
Need to know if you’re eligible to vote? Here are resources from the Virginia Department of Elections.
