The special election to fill Virginia’s 6th District Senate seat, which lieutenant governor-elect Ralph Northam will be vacating after the first of the year, will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 7. Absentee voting for it has already begun.

The 6th District includes Mathews County, whose voters will help to choose Northam’s successor.

Mathews voter registrar Ruth Ann Hutson said that the election will follow normal voting procedures, with hours from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the regular precinct polling places—Lee-Jackson Elementary School for the Chesapeake precinct, Mathews High School for the Piankatank precinct, and Thomas Hunter Middle School for the Westville precinct.

The last day to register to vote and to mail in absentee ballots is Tuesday, Dec. 31, said Hutson, while Saturday, Jan. 4, is the final day for in-person absentee voting.

Mathews residents who need to file absentee ballots because they will be out of the county or h...