In the weeks leading up to the Nov. 3 midterm election, local TV news and national newspapers reported heated campaigns across the country, with a plethora of negative political ads.
Here in Northern Virginia, however, races and airwaves were relatively quiet. In the Commonwealth, voting reliably Blue in recent years, has meant the loss of swing state status, sparing voters from much of the heat of national campaign attention.
As polls opened for mail-in and early in-person voting, support signs appeared in neighborhood yards and massed at polling locations. In its late October edition, The Connection published its voting guides to introduce candidates.
Activists and various grassroots organizations took to the sidewalks, to remind citizens who might have slept through the quieter election news, and used attention grabbers to encourage early voting. Indivisible of Franconia, a group which touts dedication to non-violent activism, held their first-day of early-voting sidewalk rally using sign messages linked to kitchen table issues. (The Connection, South edition, October 8-21, page 3). Their “Party at the Polls” event at the Franconia Government Center on Oct. 22 coincided with the first Saturday of early voting, in which the 13 additional government centers and libraries joined the initial three early voting locations in the county. A cow and a cowbell attracted attention.
The Franconia group, which holds numerous “No Kings” sidewalk events in Kingstowne, indicated their goal was to promote early voting as a strategy. “Voting early is an essential strategy to combat efforts to disrupt the election,” said Andi Cale, event co-organizer. “The larger the number of votes cast early, the harder it will be for the Trump Administration to contest the results.” Because of the national rhetoric related to election interference, various grassroots groups also were planning to mobilize nonviolent protests as a rapid response to any attempted subterfuge of the election or undermining election integrity.
Whether it was the messaging, the cow, or the cowbells, by the end of the first full weekend of early voting, over 20 percent of Fairfax County voters had cast a ballot; the majority using the early in-person option. Wait times at some times and locations reached 15 to 30 minutes; with several locations seeing lines formed awaiting poll opening. One Republican poll worker noted that one voter expressed surprise at finding the wait; he had come to vote early in-person to avoid lines on Nov. 3 only to find lines for early voting.
As the early voting period ended for Virginia on Oct. 31, the percentage of ballots cast had reached nearly 28 percent of Fairfax County’s eligible voters. The final weekend alone saw a push of 31,551 voters; with over 13,000 on Saturday and over 18,000 on Sunday.
On Election Day, reports of morning lines were limited to opening, a d voting could still be completed in five minutes.
Incumbent Congressman James Walkinshaw spent the day visiting polls and greeting voters. Asked how he expected to fair, he said, “I take nothing for granted, but I’m feeling that all is going well.” He planned to attend incumbent Senator Mark Warner’s watch party in Alexandria with others elected on election night to see the returns.
The Connection went to press before the final results and percentage of voter turnout was reported.