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Henrico County residents line up early Friday to cast ballots at the county's Western Government Center.
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U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine and his wife, Anne Holton, vote early Friday in Richmond.
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Henrico resident Joyce Black Coffey takes her father, George A. Black Sr., to cast his ballot at the Richmond General Registrar's Office.
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Voters leave the Richmond General Registrar's Office after casting their ballots early.
This year, it’s easier than ever to cast ballots ahead of the Election Day rush thanks to a law passed by the General Assembly which allows Virginians to vote absentee in person or by mail without a preapproved reason. Because of the change, area election officials say they’re seeing a record number of absentee ballot requests and anticipate long lines throughout the 45-day early in-person voting period.
Officials say that about 103,000 absentee ballots have been requested across metro Richmond as of earlier this week. Around 20,000 mail-in absentee applications have been filed in the city, while Chesterfield has 37,000, Henrico has 36,000 and Hanover has around 10,000.
“I think COVID-19 definitely had a big push to vote by mail and that increased the numbers. I [also] think that with a lot of the political back-and-forth over the postal system had a lot to do with the request for vote by mail, and just the ability to be able to cast your ballot when you [already] know who your candidate is going to be,” said Hanover County General Registrar Teresa Smithson. About 2,500 Hanover County residents cast absentee ballots in the 2016 presidential election.
Lines wrapped around the corner soon after polls opened Friday morning at Henrico County’s Western Government Center on East Parham Road, with residents anxious to ensure their votes were counted in the highly-anticipated presidential contest between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
“We’re in a situation now where I preferred this to waiting until Election Day,” said Booker Hargrove, who waited in line for 40 minutes early Friday morning with his wife, Karen Knarr. “I just thought that it would be health-wise, a little safer, and it just seems like there’s a lot of questions around the mail-in ballots, there seems to be a lot of uncertainty with that.”
Jonathan and Hazel Johnson also cited a lack of faith in the postal service, saying they “wanted to make sure our votes counted and were in the system.
“Anybody can just show up and vote or vote by mail, so it’s garnered a lot of interest [from] people [who] want to choose their time to vote,” said Mark Coakley, Henrico County general registrar. “All these years, I’ve anticipated Election Day and the early voting was just a slight situation where it was just a couple of percentage points. Now, we’re really up there.”
At the new Richmond General Registrar’s Office on West Laburnum Avenue, 95-year-old WWII veteran George A. Black Sr. was among a steady stream of residents who pulled into the office’s parking lot for curbside voting.
“We both see a need for a change in the White House. It is an imperative that we come out to vote so that we can save democracy,” said his daughter Joyce Black Coffey, a Henrico resident.
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine and his wife, Anne Holton, a former Virginia Secretary of Education, also voted early on Friday and encouraged other Virginians to consider taking advantage of the more flexible voting period this year.
“I really like early voting and I have long supported broadening the access to voting because the greater the participation, the more true we are to our democratic principles,” he said.
In Chesterfield County, General Registrar Constance Hargrove said her office received more than 300 early in-person ballots within the first three hours of polls opening, far outpacing the norm. Going forward, she expects 60% of registered voters in the county to vote early in person and by mail.
“This is just day one; they’ll have plenty of time to come out,” she said.
Cast Your Ballot
Virginians can vote absentee in person at their local registrar’s office or a satellite voting location through 5 p.m. Oct. 31.
Richmond residents can vote early at the Office of the General Registrar (2134 W. Laburnum Ave.) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. the two Saturdays before Nov. 3.
Chesterfield County residents can vote early at the General Registrar’s office, 9848 Lori Road, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 24 and Oct. 31. The county also will offer early voting at four satellite locations starting Oct. 19, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. They are located at:
- North Courthouse Road Library, 325 Courthouse Road
- LaPrade Library, 9000 Hull Street Road
- Meadowdale Library, 4301 Meadowdale Blvd.
- Ettrick-Matoaca Library, 4501 River Road
Henrico County is offering early voting at its Western Government Center (4305 E. Parham Road) and Eastern Government Center (3820 Nine Mile Road) Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 10, 17, 24 and 31.
Hanover County residents can cast ballots at 7497 County Complex Road Monday - Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.on Oct. 24 and Oct. 31.
