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Live updates: Election Day in Virginia • Virginia Mercury [1]
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Date: 2024-11-05
Election Day 2024 is in full swing in Virginia, and we’re keeping track of what’s happening at the polls. Get informed before you cast your ballot and check back here; we’ll share updates throughout the day.
7:04 p.m.:
Polls have closed across the state, although voters who were in line at 7:00 may still vote. The next update from Virginia elections officials is expected to come at 8 p.m.
6:25 p.m.:
Amid the backdrop of a contentious presidential election, voting appeared to go smoothly in Virginia on Tuesday as people cast their ballots in federal and local elections.
Though early voting dropped this year from the last presidential cycle — which also happened at a height of the COVID-19 pandemic where people were avoiding large crowds — some jurisdictions have shared that they’ve experienced long lines and high turnout or substantial use of same-day voter registration this year.
A couple of snags were detected in Richmond and Chesterfield early in the day, though both were resolved quickly.
In Richmond, 11 people at an East End precinct had been given ballots that only included federal elections rather than both federal and local contests.
“Unfortunately,” Richmond registrar Keith Balmer said, those voters won’t be able to weigh in on local contests.
Balmer said the city’s electoral board held an emergency meeting to vote to remove the precinct chief. A member of his staff oversaw voting for the rest of the day and no other issues have been reported.
The federal-only ballots were intended for military and overseas voters who can vote in federal elections, but can’t vote in local jurisdictions because they don’t live there and aren’t part of the local tax base, Balmer explained. These ballots are typically used for absentee voting, but Balmer said that a small number are still on hand at local polling places because that voter demographic does sometimes show up to vote in person.
It was those ballots that were mistakenly handed to people when Precinct 310 opened at 6 a.m. Balmer said that because those people have already voted, there’s nothing that can be done to change that.
“Once we put their ballot in the machine — even though it’s clear as day that they were given the wrong ballot — there’s no do-overs unfortunately,” Balmer said.
Meanwhile, Chesterfield County briefly experienced jammed ballot scanners at “a handful of precincts,” registrar Missy Vera said in a release.
The scanners are used to accept printed ballots and she attributed the issue to “ink levels of a specific batch of ballots that were printed by a state-affiliated vendor.”
To resolve the matter, poll workers were instructed to not use the specific batch of blank ballots that had been identified as the source of the issue.
She added that the jamming issues “are not slowing the voting process” and that the unused ballots that had been the source of the jamming issue wouldn’t be used going forward.
5:25 p.m.:
Richmond precinct chief dismissed after handing out the wrong ballots
A precinct chief in Richmond’s Precinct 310 was dismissed and replaced on Tuesday after an error resulted in 11 voters receiving the wrong ballots, according to Virginia Elections Commissioner Susan Beals.
Beals informed reporters during a second Election Day briefing Tuesday afternoon that Richmond’s City Electoral Board met and chose to replace the precinct chief responsible. The error meant that the affected voters were unable to cast ballots for local races, as they were given special ballots meant exclusively for federal races.
“My understanding is that they cast only federal ballots which included only the office of President of the United States,” Beals explained, adding that these specific ballots are usually reserved for voters who are about to move. “Those ballots, to my understanding, did not include the local races,” she said.
The error highlights the challenges election officials face in ensuring each voter receives the correct ballot, especially during high-turnout elections.
Number of provisional ballots cast unclear, but same-day registrations are up
Beals also said at the briefing Tuesday that the number of provisional ballots cast throughout Election Day remained unclear by 4 p.m.
“Right now we don’t have anything statewide other than what we knew of this morning, which is we had between 15,000 and 17,000 statewide,” she said.
Beals added that several localities with universities and colleges reported an uptick in same-day voter registrations.
“We have heard that there are long lines in some localities that have universities and colleges, as a lot of those students have been encouraged to same-day register today,” she said.
Department of Elections officials have remained in touch with these localities and, when needed, deployed more officers of elections and supplies to those universities and the precincts on their campuses, Beals said.
“What we encourage everyone to do is to please make sure you stay in line, even if the 7 p.m. hour passes. They will process you and they do want you to vote, so please do not get out of line.”
5:10 p.m.:
At the polls, Northern Virginia voters weigh views on abortion, cost of living
On Tuesday, campaign signs were spread across Northern Virginia at intersections, street corners, and even posted on a bridge over Interstate 66, urging Virginians to support local, state and presidential candidates in this year’s general election.
In areas such as Arlington, Falls Church, and Fairfax City, some voters have already cast their ballots early, leaving little foot traffic at precincts on Election Day.
According to David Bjerke, general registrar for the City of Falls Church, the city recorded a voter turnout of 80.1% by 5 p.m. In Fairfax County, one of the larger jurisdictions in the commonwealth, election officials said total turnout was at 67.9% as of 3:30 p.m.
While 2,305,439 Virginians had already cast their ballots through early voting as of Tuesday morning, the number of early voting ballots cast has dipped by about 525,000 compared to the last 2020 presidential election, according to data collected by the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP).
While some Election Day voters in close proximity to the federal government offices in Washington D.C., said they preferred to keep their names and who they voted for private due to their jobs, others were not shy to share their views.
“I think we need a change in this country,” said Elizabeth Green, a city of Fairfax voter who is concerned about the cost of living and voted early for former President Donald Trump. Green said she thinks Trump is the best presidential candidate to tackle the rising costs of food and housing she’s seen.
Other residents in Northern Virginia said they voted in person for convenience and to experience the voting atmosphere firsthand.
Mealod Khashei, in the city of Falls Church, said he voted on Election Day because doing so gives him more confidence his vote will be counted.
“It’s our civic duty, right,” Khashei said. “We [have] a few responsibilities that we’ve got to do, and that’s what I’m doing.”
4:07 p.m.:
“We’re getting slammed with provisional ballots,” city of Richmond registrar Keith Balmer said in a phone call around 3:30 p.m. It’s mostly same-day voter registration.”
Chris Davis, an election poll worker at Main Street Station polling place, estimated Tuesday afternoon that about 10% of ballots cast by early afternoon were provisional ballots — in part, he surmised, from populations of college students that live and study in the area.
Same-day registration and provisional ballots are used in instances where someone forgot to bring their ID card or another form of identification when they vote. They can register at the polling place, vote, and then follow up with their local election officials to provide identification.
It’s also an option for the roughly 1,600 people who were purged from voter rolls this year over questions of citizenship status on Department of Motor Vehicles paperwork.
Unlike regular ballots, provisional ballots undergo more scrutiny before they are counted, Balmer said. Officials research voters to determine factors like their identity, citizenship status, or residency in the district they voted in.
“My staff is going to have to research the eligibility of all of these voters and make a determination if their ballot should count or if it should not,” he explained. “Then the electoral board will ultimately make the final decision.”
“Basically, all of next week, we’re going to be adjudicating hundreds, if not thousands, of provisional ballots,” Balmer said.
3:48 p.m.:
Outside the Virginia Commonwealth University polling location on the second floor of the Student Commons, several students shared their same-day voter registration experiences and the top policy issues driving their choice between presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Reproductive rights, housing and economic policy were among the young voters’ chief concerns. Read more.
2:15 p.m.:
Chris Davis, a poll worker at Main Street Station, said that about 10% of votes cast had been through same-day registration. He suspects that’s due to the amount of Virginia Commonwealth University and other university and college students that live in the area.
1 p.m.:
Virginia early voter turnout data and mail-in voting
Virginia Elections Commissioner Susan Beals said at a media briefing on Election Day morning that as of Nov. 1, a record 6,374,437 Virginians had registered to vote. As of Tuesday morning, 2,305,439 Virginians had already cast their ballots through early voting, of which 1,861,938 were cast in person and 443,501 were returned by mail.
Of the mail ballots that are still outstanding, a total of 126,266 mail ballots have yet to be returned.
“Those who are voting absentee by mail must have those ballots postmarked on or before today Nov. 5, and they must be received in the mail by noon Friday, Nov. 8, in order to be counted,” Beals said.
While same-day registrations data was not yet available for Tuesday around 10 a.m., Beals said that the state had filed a total of 16,557 same-day registrations leading up to Election day, “but we are obviously expecting more today.”
In September, Beals had expressed concerns about potential delays with the U.S. Postal Service affecting timely processing of mail-in ballots ahead of the election. However, on Tuesday she reported that these issues have not materialized so far, and ballots are being processed on schedule.
“I think a lot of folks have chosen to do a drop off at a dropbox at their registrar’s office, we have seen an increase in that method of return,” Beals told reporters. ” We have not heard specific examples of people having delays in getting their mail back.”
Beals added most voters are being very diligent about ensuring that their ballot has been received, which they can check online and see that it’s been received by their local registrar’s staff once they mail it back.
“We have seen an overall decrease in the number of people who have requested absentee by mail-in ballot this year as compared to 2020, but you can’t necessarily attribute that to just this issue, because 2020 was a very different time and a lot of people requested mail-in ballots because they just didn’t know what to expect on Election Day that year with the pandemic. So it’s hard to even make a case there.”
Election integrity and and security concerns addressed early
Beals reiterated that elections in Virginia are secure and reliable.
“In Virginia, we have some of the most experienced election officials in the country. They have already conducted two statewide elections this year and have provided 138 days of early election day voting for Virginia voters as of today,” she said. Because Virginia has elections each year, Beals said, “our election officials have a great depth of experience in handling issues that come up for voters at the polls.”
Beals added that election officials in the commonwealth have worked throughout the year to ensure that the elections are safe.
“In terms of security concerns, we have been meeting for many months with our state and federal law enforcement partners to plan for today,” she said. “We’ve had several meetings where we’ve run through various scenarios to make plans.”
Beals couldn’t speak to the specifics of those plans but asserted again “we’re very confident that we’re going to have a safe and secure election in Virginia day.”
U.S. Department of Justice officials are monitoring six localities in Virginia Tuesday to ensure compliance with federal voting laws, but Beals said that her department would have no information to share on that.
Election Day snags
Beals reported that the Department of Elections had been made aware of an incident at Precinct 310 in Richmond Tuesday morning, where election workers handed out federal-only ballots to at least 11 voters.
“That issue has still since been resolved. My understanding is that the officers of election gave out the incorrect ballot to the voters that had only a presidential race on the ballot,” she said.
Editor’s note: This is a developing story that will continue to be updated as more information becomes available.
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