VA Election 2020 Updates: First-Time Voter, Trump In Arlington

Last updated at 6:45 p.m.

VIRGINIA — Few snafus were reported at northern Virginia polling sites Tuesday and lines moved quickly for votes both in the morning rush in the afternoon. With 2.7 million early ballots cast before Election Day, voters said they felt with coronavirus precautions to separate voters and election workers.

Polls are open until 7 p.m.

Tuesday was the first time that Alejandra Montero had a chance to vote in a U.S. election, so she cast her ballot at the Fairfax High polling center.

"I just came because I had to," she told Patch. "I just moved here a year ago and this is my first time."

When asked about how she felt casting her first vote, Montero said it felt weird because she'd never done it before in her home country of Bolivia.

Trump and his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, are seeking Virginia's 13 votes in the Electoral College. Virginia is not considered a key swing state as it has been in past presidential elections. Virginia voters are voting in the presidential election as well as congressional races and local races in certain localities. Two state constitutional amendments are also on the ballot.

Shelly Skomra, a fourth-grade teacher in Falls Church, is a Republican but voted for Democrats in this election. She sees the pandemic as a serious issue, since her mother, a supporter of President Donald Trump, died from COVID-19.

But her voting decision is also based on character. She noted that her fourth grade students are aware of what's going on in the political realm.

"For me being a teacher is being a role model. This president is not," Skomra told Patch. "It's really hard these days to teach kids not to bully, to respect each other and not call each other names."

Virginia heads into Election Day with a large portion of voters who have already cast their ballots. According to Chris Piper, commissioner of the Virginia Department of Elections, 2.754 million Virginians had already cast ballots by Saturday. Nearly 1.8 million of these were in-person votes, and 956,000 were mail-in absentee votes.

"That's a total of 46 percent of registered voters have already cast ballots, 68.77 percent of our total voter turnout in 2016," said Piper.

There have been few issues reported at polling places so far, according to Piper.

"While there have been minor issues, nothing that we didn't anticipate necessarily, and at no point was voting interrupted in the commonwealth," Piper said. "As a result, we feel very confident going into the rest of the day that voting will continue to be successful here in the Commonwealth."

In Prince William County, two polling places experienced ballot scanning issues earlier Tuesday. "Please note that the issue is resolved. All ballot-scanning is fully functional across all 93 polling sites, and all ballots will be counted," reads a county tweet.

A dispute broke out among Democratic and Republican Party volunteers in Ashburn over where they were setting up their tents and chairs in order to hand out sample ballots and literature. The elections precinct captain was able to calm the situation, although he plans to file an incident report with the Loudoun County elections office later Tuesday night.

The nonpartisan website 270toWin, which tracks polls and election projections, lists Virginia as a state that will likely go to Biden.

"Shifting demographics, including more rapid population growth around Washington D.C., have made the state a battleground in recent elections, perhaps one that now leans Democratic again," the page states.

President Trump visited Arlington Tuesday afternoon to take questions from reporters and thank Republican National Committee staff. His message to Americans who didn't vote for him was "everybody should come together, and I think success brings us together."

In response to a reporter's question on election results preparations, Trump said, "No, I'm not thinking about concession speech or acceptance speech yet. Hopefully we'll be only doing one of those two And you know, winning is easy. Losing is never easy, not for me it's not."

A resident who voted at the Arlington Arts Center precinct with his wife told a Patch reporter he decided to vote on Election Day because he was worried that there would be a wave of voters for one party or the other that would make it look like there is far higher turnout for one party or the other.

"By casting my ballot on Election Day, I at least make sure I am heard on this day and balance out the numbers," the voter, who voted for Biden and declined to be identified, told Patch.

At around 3:45 p.m., the precinct at Fairfax High School reported 17.6 percent of its registered voters had cast ballots on Tuesday, according to election officials. That's in addition to the 53 percent who had already cast their votes during the early voting period. In 2016, when there was lower early voting, overall voter turnout in the City of Fairfax was 81.2 percent.

Everyone else in Emily Trencher's family had already voted, but she wanted to cast her ballot on Election Day.

"This is a very key election for our future," Trencher said, outside the Fairfax High School polling center. "This is an election about human decency and the rights of human people in the United States. I don't think that our future is very bright with our current president and I felt that it was important to vote in order to bring forward a nation that we should be proud to give our children and grandchildren."

David Price of Fairfax votes for every presidential election. "I feel like it's my civic duty to get out and vote, so that's what I do," he said.

In 2016, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton won Virginia with 1,981,473 votes to Trump's 1,769,443 votes. Former Barack Obama won Virginia in 2008 and 2016, although by a smaller margin than Clinton in 2016.

According to polling tracked by RealClearPolitics, Biden edges Trump in all recent polls conducted in Virginia. In the most recent poll from Christopher Newport University, Biden has a 12-percentage point lead over Trump. The poll, conducted from Oct. 15 to 27, featured 908 registered Virginia voters who voted in the two general elections in the last four years or registered within the last six months. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

"Biden’s lead continues to illustrate Virginia’s solid shift left in presidential and statewide races," said Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo, research director at the university's Wason Center. "The test on Election Day will be whether that shift holds in the competitive congressional districts that went to Democrats in 2018."

Return to Patch tonight for the latest vote tally. Subscribe to free News Alerts for election results.

Lines in Arlington were non-existent in Arlington, except at 6 a.m. when people were waiting in line for the polls to open. After the first wave of voters early in the morning, residents did not have to wait in line and breezed in and out.

"I just enjoy the process of coming in and voting in person," Arlington resident Daniel Miktus said about his decision to vote in person on Election Day at the Central Library precinct in Arlington. "Combine that with that I figured everyone else would be voting not in person, so I figured I could walk right in and walk right out and that's exactly what happened.

Miktus, who said he voted for Trump, noted he felt safe inside the precinct from the coronavirus due to the plexiglass up between the election workers and voters and how they were handing out fresh pens to each voter.

If Biden wins the presidential election, Miktus said he would not be pleased. But he said he believes the presidential election does not impact his day-to-day life in a big way. "I'll just go on with my life," he said.

The voting process has been smooth Tuesday morning in the City of Falls Church, which had turnout over 70 percent before Election Day. Voters encountered little or no wait after the polls opened at the city's three polling places.

David Putnam, a Falls Church voter, was encouraged by how early voting turnout made the voting process easy on Election Day. Getting in and out of the polling place at the Falls Church Community Center took five to ten minutes.

Putnam believes Falls Church voters are engaged in the local and congressional elections, although the presidential race takes center stage.

"I've seen a number of signs. I've met a couple of the candidates for the city positions, but I think the presidential election is the big one," Putnam told Patch.

Linda O'Sullivan observed how businesses are boarded up in downtown DC ahead of Election Day. She had good things to say about the voting process and shared her preference for Democratic candidates.

"The voting experience was very smooth, very easy. Everyone should do it," she said. "I voted blue down the ticket."

Candidates for a City Council special election praised voters for the high turnout. Joshua Shokoor, a candidate for City Council, was outside the Falls Church Community Center precinct and said that voters have been trickling in. He hopes another 20 percent turnout on Election Day could be added to the 70 percent turnout from absentee voting.

Another candidate, Debbie Hiscott, greeted voters outside the Thomas Jefferson Elementary precinct Tuesday morning. She said there was a line at 6 a.m. as voters awaited polls to open.

"Other than that there have been no lines," Hiscott said.

Polling places in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria were quiet in the afternoon. The George Washington Middle School polling place was reported to have voters lined up before polls opened.

Before Election Day, 62 percent of active registered voters in the city had voted. As of 4 p.m. on Election Day, voter turnout was 76 percent. That represents 4 percent more votes than in 2016, according to the city government.

Virnetta Sanders, a voter at the Mount Vernon Recreation Center, was happy with the voting process and safety precations at the polls.

"My voting experience was fine," she said. "No lines, no issues."

The U.S. Justice Department said it was monitoring voting rights monitoring in certain jurisdictions around the country, including Fairfax County. According to a news release, monitors focus on compliance with the Voting Rights Act and other federal voting rights laws enforced by the division. The Justice Department will also take reports from the public nationwide regarding possible violations of the federal voting rights laws through its call center. Possible violations can be reported on a complaint form on the department’s website civilrights.justice.gov or by phone toll-free at 800-253-3931.

The number of absentee votes has presumably increased since the governor's news conference. In-person early voting ran through Oct. 31, and mail-in absentee ballots must be returned or postmarked by Nov. 3, and may arrive between Nov. 3 and Virginia’s deadline of Nov. 6.

"If you haven't mailed your absentee ballot, you should consider dropping it off by hand at a ballot drop box, which is available at your local registrar's office and other locations," said Northam.

Officials from Democratic Party of Virginia are optimistic about voter turnout.

"Thanks to the Democratic trifecta that passed landmark voting rights legislation this year, Virginia went from being the second-hardest state to vote in to being one of the easiest," said Susan Swecker, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Virginia, in a statement to Patch. "We've seen tremendous turnout during the early vote period, particularly in Democratic areas, and have tools like IWillVote.com and our voter protection hotline — 844-482-8683 — to help people cast their ballots.

Republicans see Virginia as a competitive state for the presidential election and other key races. John March, a spokesman for the Republican Party of Virginia, said there have been focuses on voter registration and absentee voting, as well as outreach to minority communities.

"We've made a ton of inroads," March told Patch. "We've had the president's campaign staff on the ground for nearly two years. Our ground game is unmatched here in Virginia."

Swecker said Democrats' focuses in this election are the pandemic, recession and associated unemployment rate, and systemic racism.

"Across the Commonwealth voters are turning out in record numbers to support Joe Biden, Mark Warner, and Democratic Congressional candidates because they have real plans to get our country back on track," Swecker said.

The Arlington resident who didn't want to be identified said there were concerns about whether there would be enough poll workers due to the coronavirus. "I am so pleasantly surprised as to how many people answered the call," he said. "It's a smooth process. They have a different entrance and exit, providing one-way traffic so that people don't get close to each other."

The voter said that he and wife's lives — in terms of the taxes they pay and their job security — are better under Trump. "But that doesn't matter. There have been four years of heinousness. This country is more divided than ever," he said. "I don't put the blame entirely on him or his supporters. But he certainly hasn't done anything to fix it."

An Ashburn resident who voted for Trump told Patch she decided to vote on Election Day because she was concerned that her ballot might get tampered with or confiscated if she had mailed it in or place it in a drop box.

Mary Zubritsky said she supports Trump because he made a lot of promises on the campaign trail in 2016 and has kept them. But she wishes the president would tone down the comments he makes on Twitter.

"Trump does say some questionable things and sometimes I want to go out there and punch him in the face and get his hands off his cell phone and get him off Twitter," Zubritsky said. "But I’m for closing the borders like Trump. I’m all for legal immigration."

"I don’t think Joe Biden is a bad person. He’s just a puppet right now and I do not want Kamala Harris as president," she added. "I’ve read many places that they are planning on forcing Biden out pretty quickly and having Kamala Harris take over and I don’t want that."

Aside from the presidential election, statewide voters will determine the outcome of the U.S. Senate race between Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and his Republican challenger Daniel Gade. Warner, is a former businessman who served as Virginia governor from 2002 to 2006. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2008 and won re-election in 2014. Gade is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and amputee who now serves as an American University professor.

There are also a few key congressional races involving three Democratic representatives who won against Republicans in 2018 and are seeking their second terms. In the 10th congressional district, Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA), is running for re-election against Republican Aliscia Andrews. Wexton worked as a prosecutor and state senator before defeating incumbent Rep. Barbara Comstock in the 2018 election. Andrews is a Marine Corps veteran vying to become the first female Marine in Congress.

Another key race involves Rep. Elaine Luria, a first-term Democrat, in the 2nd congressional district. Luria faces Republican Scott Taylor, who served as the district's congressman for one term before losing re-election to Luria in 2018.

The third race eyed by Republicans is the 7th congressional district, represented by Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA). Republican Nick Freitas, the 30th district representative in the Virginia House of Delegates. Abigail Spanberger defeated incumbent Republican David Brat in 2018.

Preparations for the polls and election results

Secretary of Administration Keyanna Conner said a partnership with the Virginia medical reserve corps will "help to ensure a safe and sanitary polling precinct for all Virginia voters." Voters are urged to wear a mask at polling places.

An acceptable form of identification is required to vote in person, but it no longer has to be a photo ID. Examples of accepted IDs include a Virginia driver's license or DMV-issued photo ID, U.S. passport, and copy of a utility bill, paycheck or other government document showing the voter's address. To find your polling place, visit the Virginia Department of Elections' citizen portal.

Results will start to appear on the Virginia Department of Elections results page after polls close at 7 p.m. on Nov. 3. Gov. Ralph Northam Northam said in last week's news conference that Virginians shouldn't expect official results on election night. He noted that election officials don't usually call elections on election night; news organizations have been known to call races on election night. The governor said election officials certify election results under Virginia law. Local election boards are expected to certify results on Nov. 10, and the state board will certify results on Nov. 16.

"So I just wanted to remind everyone we're looking more at an election week than an election night, and that's nothing to be alarmed about," said Northam. "That is the process working as the law intended."

Conner said results will be reported as they come in from precincts starting at 7 p.m. All in-person early voting and mail-in absentee voting will be reported in each locality's Central Absentee Precinct. However, counting won't be limited to election night.

"We've given localities a cutoff time of 11 p.m. to stop processing absentee ballots for that evening," said Conner. That means that localities at that time will still need to close out their machines and go through the normal end-of-evening process and then report those [Central Absentee Precinct] numbers on election night. Some localities may report earlier than 11 p.m. It depends on the volume and timing of ballots returned."

Counting of absentee ballots would resume on Wednesday, Nov. 4, and Central Absentee Precinct numbers will be updated after noon on Friday, Nov. 6.

Stay with Patch throughout the day for live updates from the polls. A results story will follow after polls close at 7 p.m. Check back on Wednesday morning for more updates.

This story includes reporting from Patch Editor Mark Hand.