CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Early voting is peaking in Hampton Roads. About one in three registered voters already has cast their ballots for the November election.
Chesapeake Voter Registrar Mary Lynn Pinkerman said 38.5% of registered voters in the city already had voted early by Tuesday (October 27), representing more than 66,000 people in Chesapeake. It was the highest percentage of early voting turnout in Hampton Roads to date.
Hampton reported 35% of registered voters already had voted. Suffolk reported 34% early voting turnout.
Newport News, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach reported 28, 27 and 26% early voting turnout, respectively.
For context, in the 2016 Presidential Election in Virginia, about 10% of all registered voters cast their ballots before Election Day.
In Virginia, voters have until Saturday to cast early ballots at in-person polling locations. Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and will be counted up until the Friday, November 6.
Registrars said they expect the highest numbers of early voters the rest of this week as the deadline nears.
In total, more than 260,000 registered voters in the six cities listed above had voted in this election cycle as of Tuesday.
Norfolk election officials did not provide data on numbers of early voters or registered voters, saying only the registrar could provide that information. The registrar did not return requests for information.
The statistics do not include voters whose absentee ballots have yet to be returned, received and counted by local election officials.
Some early voters said safety concerns and clear opinions about this election are contributing to high early voting turnout.
"I think COVID-19 has had some impact on why people want to do it early, but I also think people feel very strongly about this election, they’re very interested in the outcome and they want to have their voices heard," said Joanne, a Chesapeake voter.
More than 118,000 Virginians voted early on Monday, October 26, a new record high for this election.