Poll: Virginians back mail voting and photo ID as partisan anxiety holds steady

Virginians remain firmly supportive of mail-in voting while also backing a photo ID requirement — a pairing that shows how residents continue to weigh access against security — according to a new Roanoke College Poll. 

The survey, released Thursday, also finds political anxiety barely moved over the last six months, even as partisans remain deeply split in how they view public institutions and national politics.

“Mail voting in Virginia isn’t going anywhere, at least in the near term, which seems to be fine with most Virginians,” said Harry Wilson, interim director for the Institute for Policy and Opinion Research at Roanoke College. “They are also happy to have a photo ID requirement, though it isn’t clear how that squares with mail voting.”

Large majorities of Virginians support requiring a government-issued photo ID (82%), automatically registering eligible citizens (66%) and allowing any voter to cast a ballot by mail (65%). Views on “ballot harvesting,” which allows a person to collect and submit the completed ballots of others, remain mixed: A small majority (53%) opposes banning the practice, while 43% support a ban.

More respondents say absentee ballots increase turnout and make elections more accurate (55%) than say they lead to falsified or miscounted ballots (42%).

Trump and Youngkin ratings

The poll shows Virginia residents continue to give low marks to President Donald Trump. His job disapproval rating rose to 63% — higher than in the October survey — and his favorability rating declined seven points, though it remains close to typical levels recorded in past Roanoke College polling.

Asked how best to describe Trump, the plurality selected “criminal” (30%), followed by “leader” (23%), “disruptor” (18%), “fascist” (16%) and “visionary” (11%). Those views split sharply along party lines.

“Democrats and Republicans continue to view things, almost everything, through a different lens,” Wilson said. “Their levels of political anxiety and descriptions of Trump remain relatively steady if vastly different.”

Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s numbers remain steady. Just weeks before he is set to leave office, his job approval stands at 54%, roughly in line with his average throughout his term. His favorability rating (50% favorable, 40% unfavorable) is also largely unchanged from August.

Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger enters office with the strongest showing of the three, recording a 56% favorable rating — her highest mark in the Roanoke poll — and 33% unfavorable.

Partisan divides and the political climate

A majority of Virginians say they trust the federal government to do what is right only sometimes (56%) or never (25%). Yet 58% believe ordinary citizens can influence Washington. Most (59%) say their side has been losing more than winning on important issues.

Nearly half of respondents (49%) say they are dissatisfied with how the federal government is working, while 27% say they are angry — the highest combined level of discontent since 2017, though only slightly above the May measurement. 

A majority (53%) believes the country’s best years are behind it; 44% say the best years lie ahead. And 61% say the federal government makes their life worse, compared with 35% who say it makes their life better.

The poll’s political anxiety index stands at 81.26, down eight points since May — a small shift that masks wide partisan gaps.

Democratic anxiety rose dramatically from May 2024 (-10.39) to November 2024 (101.77) and now sits at 155.42, nearly identical to where it stood in May 2025 (153.36). 

Republican anxiety followed the opposite arc last year, falling from 166.59 in May 2024 to 13.52 in November 2024, and has remained steady this year (-30.10 in May and -34.13 in November).

The index continues to track closely with which party controls the White House and Congress.

Trust in polling and the media

A small majority of Virginians (54%) say they trust the polling industry a great deal (10%) or some (44%). But skepticism remains, as 30% trust pollsters “not very much,” and 14% don’t trust them at all. A majority (56%) believes pollsters slant their results to fit their own views, while 40% believe pollsters try to measure opinions accurately.

A plurality of respondents has limited (40%) or no (23%) trust that the media report the news fully, accurately and fairly — nearly identical to results in November 2024. 

Wilson pushed back on assumptions about partisan or ideological slant.

“Lastly, while some (or even many) of you may not believe it, all reputable pollsters attempt to measure opinion accurately and don’t slant the results to fit our views,” he said. 

Three-fourths of Virginians (74%) say the country is on the wrong track — the most negative view in two years — while half (50%) say the commonwealth is moving in the right direction, roughly unchanged since August.

The Roanoke College Poll was conducted by IPOR between Nov. 9 and Nov. 14, 2025. The 819 interviews included random telephone calls and texts to 450 Virginians and 369 responses drawn from a proprietary online panel. 

The survey’s weighted margin of error is 5.25%.

Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Samantha Willis for questions: info@virginiamercury.com.