Once the voter has completed the Virginia voter photo ID card application in the presence of a designated Virginia election official, the official will take the voter’s picture and have the voter sign a digital signature pad. The photo ID card will be printed and mailed to the voter’s address.

Given the short time frame before Election Day, a voter who applies now would get a temporary ID card that would enable him or her to vote Tuesday while waiting for the photo ID to arrive in the mail.

The temporary card will not feature the voter’s photo, but it will be linked electronically in voter records that will note that the voter’s application and photo are on file.

Legislators passed the photo ID law, sponsored by state Sen. Mark D. Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, in 2013. Then-Gov. Bob McDonnell signed it into law.

Backers of the law, which took effect July 1, say it is meant to combat voter fraud. Opponents of the law deride it as a voter-suppression measure and say it could diminish turnout among minorities, the poor and the elderly. Opponents say Virginia does not have a history of voter fraud.