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Voters streamed to the polls in Virginia for Super Tuesday, along with voters in 15 other states and one U.S. territory, to pick their party’s nominee for president.
Polls opened in Virginia at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. If you’re in line by then, you’ll be allowed to cast a ballot. Information on same-day registration and how to find your polling place is available in WTOP’s Virginia voter guide.
There are two elections in Virginia on Tuesday, the Democratic primary and the Republican primary — but voters can only participate in one of them. Eric Spicer, Fairfax County’s director of elections and general registrar, told WTOP Virginia doesn’t register voters by party affiliation.
“So far, it looks like a slow morning, but of course, it’s raining. So we’re hoping it’s going to pick up later in the day,” Spicer said. “We’re prepared for however many voters show up. So we hope everybody wants to participate in Super Tuesday.”
As of 3:40 p.m., Fairfax County’s Office of Elections said turnout in the Republican contest was about 5.7%, compared to 2.69% for the Democratic primary. Combined with early votes counted before Tuesday, total turnout was 7.31% for the GOP primary and 6.08% for the Democratic contest.
Turnout was slightly lower in Loudoun County. As of 4:30 p.m., the Office of Elections said Tuesday’s turnout was 7.53%. Total turnout jumped to 11.29% when factoring in early and mail ballots.
In Arlington County, as of 5 p.m., the county Office of Elections said turnout was about 5% in the Democratic primary and close to 6% in the Republican primary. Those figures don’t include early or mail voting.
Fairfax County had 2,100 election officers representing both political parties across 265 polling locations, according to Spicer, who said “that’s our best security.” He told WTOP the county had seals on voting machines and ballots “locked up” beforehand.
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Spicer said absentee voters could place ballots in drop boxes outside all voting locations across the county, including in front of the Fairfax County Government Center. He said the county has had about 23,000 absentee voters in the Democratic primary and about 11,000 absentee voters in the Republican primary, as of 6:45 a.m.
“I wish we had other options. I know there’s other people on the ballot, but I think we know who’s going to be the two leaders,” teacher Samantha Schrickel told WTOP, suggesting she was frustrated it may be President Joe Biden facing former President Donald Trump in a rematch this November.
Virginia’s contest comes on the heels of Nikki Haley’s victory in D.C. — her first win in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Trump, the front-runner and delegate leader on the GOP side, held a rally in Richmond on Saturday, where he seemed to assert that Virginian votes wouldn’t matter this primary season.
“We want to send a big signal, so it’s important. I mean, we don’t need your vote. We want you to get out there and vote in big margins, and we want to send that little freight train going along,” Trump told rallygoers.
“I voted for Nikki Haley. I just think we need a new direction,” nurse Susan Bashore told WTOP, adding the Israel-Hamas war was her top issue.
President Joe Biden is the only major candidate on the Democratic side and he is far and away leading over Democratic challengers Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson.
“I want someone who is a different choice … than we had in the last round,” said Dominic Falls, who told WTOP he didn’t participate in the last presidential election.
Virginia is one of 16 states holding Super Tuesday contests. To pick up their party’s nomination, candidates need to win a majority of delegates. And no other date has more of those delegates at stake than Super Tuesday.
On the Republican side, 854 of 2,429 delegates — more than 35% — are up for grabs. About 36%, or 1,420 delegates, are in play for Democrats.
“If we’re gonna complain about the way things are, we have to get out and make our voice heard,” said Schrickel.
WTOP’s Luke Lukert and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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