It’s been more than a month since early voting began in Virginia, and so far, the Charlottesville area is seeing a smaller turnout than in 2020.
As of Wednesday, roughly 7,100 people had cast a ballot in the city of Charlottesville since polls opened on Sept. 20. Surrounding Albemarle County, which has more than twice the population, had recorded more than 25,500 votes.
In both cases, most of those ballots came from early in-person voting. For the city, the in-person figure stood at 5,080 while in the county it was 15,498.
There are some difficulties comparing the figures to the 2020 presidential election, which took place during the COVID-19 pandemic. That was the first time Virginia allowed no-excuse absentee ballots, and many voters took advantage of early voting to avoid large crowds, and disease, on Election Day.
Lauren Eddy, the Albemarle County registrar, said the current numbers are lagging slightly behind the 2020 figures. That’s not surprising for the absentee ballots; with the pandemic over, more people are willing to vote in person this election season.
During the first mailing in September 2020, the Albemarle office sent out roughly 18,000 ballots to voters. This year, the office sent out closer to 7,000 ballots in the first mailing, a much smaller number that reflects fewer people requesting to vote absentee.
But numbers are also down for in-person voting. By this point four years ago, roughly 25,000 people in Albemarle County had voted in person. Eddy attributes the discrepancy to the days of heavy rain the area during Hurricane Helene in the first week of early voting. Bad weather is notorious for keeping voters away from the ballot box.
Numbers have picked up significantly this week, as there have been a little less than 800 people voting in person since Monday.
“I think that’s how it’ll trend for the next two weeks, and next week’s numbers will probably skyrocket,” Eddy told The Daily Progress.
She believes that as Election Day draws nearer, the early voting numbers could match numbers the county saw in 2020.
It’s also possible many people are waiting until Election Day to cast their ballots. For some, the day is a social event during which they can meet neighbors at their local precinct’s polling place, fulfill a civic duty and collect their “I voted” sticker.
Utilizing Virginia’s 45-day early voting period does have benefits. It reduces the possibility that a personal time conflict could keep a voter from making it to their local precinct on Election Day, and it allows local election officials to get more of their high-pressure work done in advance of Election Day on Nov. 5.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin has advocated for Virginians to take advantage of early voting and worked to assure skeptics that the system is secure.
The county Republican and Democratic committees are both feeling optimistic about their party’s turnout and chances.
“Republicans are very happy with enthusiasm of the electorate,” John Lowry, chair of the Albemarle GOP committee, told The Daily Progress via email, adding that he is seeing a surge of Republican volunteers. “There is a missionary spirit because the choice between conservative values and liberal notions has rarely been so clear.”
Similarly, Bruce Kirtley, chair of the Albemarle Democrats, said his committee has hundreds of volunteers manning the Democratic tent during early voting.
“The level of excitement was palpable from day one,” Kirtley said in an email. “I sense there is a pent-up level of anxiety which is causing people to get out and do something!”
In Albemarle and Charlottesville, those interested in voting early and in person must do so at the registrar’s office. Albemarle’s voter registration office can be found at 1600 Fifth St. Charlottesville’s is located in the City Hall Annex at 120 Seventh St. NE. Voters must provide a name, address and present an acceptable form of identification or sign an ID confirmation statement. Committing voter fraud is a felony.
The early voting period is beginning to wind down. Friday is the deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot, and the last day of in-person early voting is Nov. 2, the Saturday before Election Day.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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