All Virginia voters who cast absentee ballots will send their forms back in envelopes marked with tracking codes, according to a new rule adopted Tuesday by the State Board of Elections.

The regulation, approved in a unanimous vote, requires local election officials to print a 65-character U.S. Postal Service Intelligent Mail barcode on both the outgoing envelopes sent to voters and the included return envelopes voters use to mail completed ballots back.

"This regulation requiring these will allow registrars to track the absentee ballots as they make their way to voters," said Danny Davenport, a policy analyst at the Virginia Department of Elections. "And then also it will allow voters to track their completed ballots as they make their way back to the registrar's office."
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In addition to the public health crisis, the Democratic-led Virginia General Assembly voted this year to loosen absentee voting rules, allowing 45 days of early voting for anyone who wants to take advantage of it. Previously, voters had to offer a valid excuse for why it would be difficult or impossible for them to go to their polling place on Election Day. https://patch.com/virginia/across-va/virginia-will-require-tracking-codes-all-absentee-ballot-envelopes