Charlottesville unveils first ballot box in the city

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - The city of Charlottesville unveiled its first ballot drop off box Thursday afternoon. The ballot box is located at the entrance of the City Hall Annex on Seventh Street North East.

City Council member Heather Hill and several officials with the Charlottesville Voter Registrar’s Office were on hand for the unveiling.

Starting September 18 voters in the city will be able to drop off their early voting absentee ballots in the box any time up until the election. A staff member will be on hand near the ballot box during the day to offer any assistance and several parking spaces on the street have been reserved for curbside early voting.

Anne Hemenway, the chair of the Electoral Board for the city of Charlottesville says, due to the coronavirus and the lifting of restrictions on applying for absentee ballots, they have seen an overwhelming number of people applying for absentee ballots.

“We have had an extremely strong response for applications of absentee ballots. So far we have gotten over 8,000 application for absentee ballots and we anticipate more than that.” said Hemenway.

She also said that there will be ballot boxes at each polling location in the city on the day of the election for people who want to drop it off then. Officials with the Voter Registrar’s Office say to make sure you have followed all directions properly to ensure that your ballot will be accepted.