VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — On Friday, Virginia’s invitation to vote early, in-person and without having to qualify for an exemption, sparked long lines of eager voters at polling places across Hampton Roads.
Voters Austin Fergusin and Amanda Taylor, in Virginia Beach, stood in line as long as they might have on November 3 to get their ballots in early.
"About an hour," they said. "It was a little over an hour. A little bit in the rain but it was worth it."
Polling locations were set to close at 5 p.m. In Virginia Beach, the lines kept growing past that time.
“They said that was the busiest they'd seen the first day of early voting since 2008," said Ferguson.
Political science expert Quentin Kidd explained he’s expecting record turnout in November, especially in Virginia.
“And that high turnout is going to be driven by the high-level anticipations for these elections," Kidd said, "and the ease at which it is to vote now, given in the changes in absentee voting laws."
Kidd said the long lines may streamline the process on election day and the speed of results that night.
"This is actually good news in some ways for Virginia," he explained. "It gives voter registrars around the state time to process those ballots. So all they have to do on election night is run them through the machines and count the votes," said Kidd.
Friday's rain and the pandemic did not keep voters from making sure their voices were heard. A divided electorate is about to have its say on the state of the country.
“It’s exciting, especially [since] we have a lot to vote on," Ferguson said. "Everything going on today’s especially with COVID-19. It’s just been really cool to voice our opinion and able to do our part our civic duty."
The City of Virginia Beach is enforcing COVID-19 restrictions and keeping surfaces clean as masked people stand in lines outdoors, and filter inside to vote.
Virginia Beach Occupational Health and Safety Manager, Scott Kalis, was watching closely Friday.
“All the machines are cleaned routinely," he said. "I see cleaning between the patrons. The surfaces they all look spotless. Everything we saw from an occupational health perspective, public health perspective was really good."
Voters have until October 31, 2020 to cast their absentee early voting ballot.
How many locals voted?
The voter turnout across Hampton Roads varies by district. Some city registrar's offices provided 13NewsNow with voter numbers around 5:00 p.m.
- Newport News: 275
- Portsmouth: 330
- Hampton: 700
- Norfolk: 427
- Chesapeake: 1,774
- Virginia Beach: 872