Absentee voters who receive their ballots by mail likely will not need to have a witness present when they cast their vote at home in Virginia’s June 23 primary election to choose candidates to run for the U.S. Senate or the U.S. House of Representatives.

Attorney General Mark R. Herring announced Tuesday that he agrees with a federal lawsuit seeking the temporary suspension of the state’s current requirement that voters casting mail-in ballots have someone present as they open the letter containing the ballot and sign the envelope in which the ballot is returned.

Mr. Herring stated he is submitting a settlement agreement to U.S. Judge Norman K. Moon and anticipates the judge’s approval on Monday, May 4, four days before the Friday, May 8, start of mail-in or in-person absentee voting.

However, the Virginia Republican Party is challenging the settlement, citing the potential for fraud, and urging Judge Moon to at least order a voter to write the last four digits of his or her Social Security number on the return envelope as a protection. If approved, the settlement would end the lawsuit the American Civil Liberties Union filed in Lynchburg on April 17 on behalf of the League of Women Voters and three individuals seeking to overturn the witness requirement during the current virus emergency.

The suit alleged the requirements would put the health of voters and witnesses at risk and should be dropped to prevent disenfranchisement of those living alone who would seek to use the mail-in ballot.

The settlement would require local registrars to count the mailed in ballots in envelopes that are not signed by a witness. Unsigned ballots ordinarily would be invalid.

“This agreement is a win for Virginians because it will protect both their health and voting rights,” Mr. Herring stated. “No Virginian should have to choose between their health and their right to vote during this pandemic.”