If you have not yet registered to vote in the 2019 general election, please do so as soon as possible. The registration deadline is Oct. 15 at 5 p.m.

If you will not be available to vote in-person on Nov. 5, early voting has already begun. You can vote in-person, Monday – Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at the registrar’s office in your county. In-person voting also takes place Saturday, Oct. 26, and Saturday, Nov. 2, from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

If you cannot vote in-person, Oct. 29 is the last day to request an absentee ballot by mail which must be mailed back by Election Day, Nov. 5 by 7 p.m.

Also, if you are not yet registered to vote, Tuesday, Oct. 15, is the last day to register and vote in this November’s election. You can also go to the website below and register: https://www.virginia.gov/agencies/department-of-elections/

Registrars offices in the 59th District are listed below with contact numbers should you need any further information.

Albemarle County Registrar’s Office is located at 1600 Fifth St., Ext, Charlottesville, VA 22902 and the phone number is (434) 972-4173.

Appomattox County Registrar’s Office is located at 367 Virginia Ave., Appomattox, VA 24522 and the phone number is (434) 352-5302.

Buckingham County Registrar’s Office is located at 13012 W James Anderson Hwy, Buckingham, VA 23921 and the phone number is (434) 969-4304.

Campbell County Registrar’s Office is located at 774 Village Hwy, Rustburg, VA 24588 and the phone number is (434)332- 9579.

Nelson County Registrar’s Office is located at 571 Front St, Lovingston, VA 22949 and the phone number is (434) 263-4068.

If you or anyone you know needs assistance with registering to vote, give my office a call and we would be happy to assist as well.

With Election Day less than one month away, the state is working to ensure that the voting process runs as smoothly as possible. One important part is adequately staffing all of the commonwealth’s voting precincts with officers of election.

Officers of election are stationed in polling places on Election Day, and serve two primary roles: helping citizens vote and making sure that all votes are properly counted. Specific duties include opening the polls to voters, verifying voter identification to ensure voter eligibility, obtaining the count of votes from the voting equipment, and reporting the voting results to the electoral board. Officers of election must be registered voters in the commonwealth.

Since 2008, state employees have been encouraged to volunteer to serve as officers of election. State policy (Department of Human Resource Management Policy No. 4.05) allows you to use civil and work-related leave to serve as an officer of election, if your work schedule allows and your supervisor approves. Please contact your human resources office for additional information.

To volunteer as an officer of election, complete the Officer of Election Interest Form found on the Department of Elections website: http://apps.elections.virginia.gov/Online-Forms/OfficerofElection.

Thank you for your support and for your service to the commonwealth.

It is a privilege to represent you in the Virginia House of Delegates. I encourage you to keep in touch with me and my office. I will be spending the coming weeks meeting and visiting with various groups, businesses and constituents.

You can email me at DelMFariss@ house.virginia.gov or call me at (434) 821-5929. You can also join the conversation on our social media page www.facebook.com/DelegateMattFariss or www.instagram.com/delegatemattfariss.