HAMPTON, Va. — While there was historic early voting turnout this year, millions of people still made their way to the polls Tuesday.
Many people lined up early at polling places in Hampton. There are more than 99,000 registered voters in the city, many voting for the very first time.
Despite thousands of people voting early, there was no shortage of people across the city voting on Election Day, including young voters like Jeremiah Scales. Scales and his mom were among the dozens of people who lined up early, in the cold. For him, Tuesday was monumental.
"People fought so hard for the right to vote and waited so long to vote, and I felt it was right to do the right thing and vote," Scales said. "It was very exciting to vote in my very first presidential election and I'm just very glad I had the chance to do it."
The election looked different than years past.
Some police departments increased staffing, so they were prepared to respond to any potential issues. Voters also saw poll watchers at their precinct. These are people with written approval to watch over the voting process, but they're not allowed to assist voters or get close enough to know how you vote.
The CDC has also issued safety guidelines for voting during the pandemic.
Inside the West Hampton Community Center, everyone was wearing a mask, plastic shields separated voters and poll workers, and there were signs on the ground reminding people to practice social distancing.
Calvin Jones was one of the first people in line at Aberdeen. He's voting for a special reason.
"I want to vote for these two people here, my mother and father who passed away, and I'm making sure my vote counts," Jones said. "A lot of people died for us to do this."
As of Oct. 23, 30,913 people had already voted -- 21,807 in person and 9,016 by mail.