Vienna-area voters could gain a 24-hour ballot drop box in Reston if Fairfax County supervisors approve $45,000 on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck proposed the money at the board's Budget Policy Committee meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 1, FFXnow reported. The new permanent drop boxes would go at the Mount Vernon Governmental Center in Alexandria and the North County Governmental Center in Reston, both of which are also early voting sites.

The timing matters. Early in-person voting for the Nov. 3 general election begins Friday, Sept. 18, according to the Fairfax County Office of Elections. The North County center at 1801 Cameron Glen Drive in Reston is one of three early voting locations opening that day.

Right now, the entire county of roughly 1.1 million residents has just one permanent 24-hour drop box, located at the Fairfax County Government Center. That is the minimum Virginia law requires. By comparison, Arlington operates nine 24-hour boxes across 26 square miles for a population less than a quarter of Fairfax's.

Permanent drop boxes are accessible around the clock and equipped with video monitoring. Storck told the committee voters could drop off completed ballots "even at 10 at night."

Temporary drop boxes are available at early voting locations during voting hours and at all precincts on Election Day, but they are not accessible overnight.

Even if the board approves the funding, it is unclear whether the boxes will be ready for the November election. Fairfax County Office of Elections spokesperson Sean Stewart told FFXnow the office would need to source materials and coordinate installation, adding that the goal is to open the boxes "as soon as this process allows."

The drop box request is one of several spending proposals in the county's fiscal year 2026 carryover budget, which reappropriates $63.53 million in unspent funds from the prior fiscal year. Other items include $400,000 for high school crossing guards, co-sponsored by Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn, who represents Vienna-area voters, and $900,000 for design work on a proposed Chantilly Arts Hub.

State law requires ballots be removed from drop boxes at least daily by two Electoral Board members, preferably of different parties, or two registrar's office staff.

The board's Sept. 15 meeting includes a public hearing on the carryover package.