Reston voters now have a new permanent ballot drop box at the North County Government Center, giving people who vote by mail another place to return completed ballots before the deadline. The box is in the lobby at 1801 Cameron Glen Drive in Reston and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Supervisor Walter Alcorn said Tuesday that voters can use the new box to drop off their mail ballot at the government center, and that it will be open until election day at 7 p.m. That matters now because the new site opened just ahead of Tuesday's election, when every hour counts for anyone still holding a ballot.
The Reston box is one of three permanent ballot drop boxes in Fairfax County, part of a wider system of 27 ballot drop boxes across the county. Fairfax County voters in the northern part of the county now have a closer around-the-clock option, and the permanent boxes stay open throughout the election period rather than only during limited hours at early voting locations.
But the 24/7 label does not override the deadline. Voters planning to use the Reston drop box still must return completed mail-in ballots by 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3, or the ballot will not count. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved $45,000 in carryover budget funding on Sept. 15 to install new ballot drop boxes in Reston and Mount Vernon, and the county is now using that money to widen access without changing the cutoff.
For voters who still need help with mail-in voting or want the full list of ballot drop-off locations, the Fairfax County Office of Elections can be reached at 703-222-0776 or TTY 711. For Reston voters, the immediate takeaway is simple: the new box is open, but the clock is still ticking.
