PORTSMOUTH, Va. — With a little more than a week until early voting ends in Virginia, some places across the Commonwealth are already seeing substantial numbers of people who already cast their ballot.
Polling places, including Virginia Beach, are reporting their busiest voting day this week, with other registrars hoping for the same success like in Portsmouth.
13News Now witnessed voters go in and out of Portsmouth City Hall all day on Thursday. There are about 70,000 people registered to vote in the city.
General registrar and director of elections for Portsmouth, Alex Abell, says the city is pleased with their voter turnout so far.
“We mailed out of 5,500 ballots. 61% of those have been returned before Election Day," Abell said. "And we’ve had a 14% turnout before Election Day, which is awesome.”
After talking to a few voters on Thursday, it seems that there’s a big push for people to not wait until Election Day to cast their votes.
Portsmouth voters Alicia Randall and Patricia Hines said it’s been encouraging to see so many people be inspired to vote in this election, especially in Virginia, where recent polls show a relatively close race in both the presidential and some Hampton Roads congressional races.
Randall said, “It’s good to see everyone come out. It shows that they have their voices, and they want to be heard.”
Hines added, “The young people are coming to vote and they have an idea of what need to be done.”
In Portsmouth the early voting period in the 2020 election saw 37% of registered voters take part in the mail-in and early voter period.
Abell said with mail in ballots still to come in, and the final eight days of early voting, Portsmouth hopes to beat their 2020 early voter percentage.