NORFOLK, Va. — Republicans and Democrats are prepping for a power struggle in the Virginia General Assembly on Nov. 7. That's election day. Some in Hampton Roads have already stopped by the polls to make their voices heard in both state and local races.
Around noon Friday there were no lines at one early voting site in Norfolk.
Inside the facility, workers checked voter IDs and helped them figure out which precinct they were in if they didn't know. It took just a few minutes for each voter to cast his or her ballot early and in person. Voters can also request absentee forms to vote early by mail.
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"Kind of the motto is 'easy, but secure,'" said Mike Ziegenfuss, chairman of Norfolk's electoral board. "We have all of our satellite precincts are fully staffed. Where we would sure like more people to vote and take advantage of that."
Election workers in Norfolk reported 4,882 people voted in person as of Thursday.
"At this point, it being an off year, not a presidential year, voting tends to be light anyway," said Ziegenfuss.
Ziegenfuss said that if you treat mail-ins, in-person early voting, and election day voting as separate things, each typically amounts to a third of votes cast.
"Which is very helpful to us because on election day we used to have lines," added Ziegenfuss. "We don't have lines anymore. Virtually no lines."
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Looking at other cities:
As of Thursday, 17,519 people voted early and in-person in Virginia Beach. 5,892 votes are in in Suffolk. 12,400 in Chesapeake, 2,745 in Portsmouth, and, on the peninsula, 4,554 in Hampton and 4,862 in Newport News.
If you'd like to skip the lines on election day, there's still time to vote early. In-person early voting ends at 5 p.m. Saturday. The last day to request an emergency absentee ballot is November 6.
Of course, you can always vote on election day at your polling place. If you haven't registered, you can still vote at your precinct.
Voting information can be found here.
