Afternoon At The Polls: Voter Turnout Climbs Toward 5 Percent

Residents who came to vote Tuesday night in the Vienna Town Elections said they were generally happy with the way the town was run, and wanted to support the people who made that possible.

Laurie Cole, Edythe Kelleher, Mike Polychrones and Jane Seeman are all seeking re-election to their council and Mayor seats, respectively. They’ve all served for at least a decade.

A slow voter pace early picked up around lunch time, poll workers said, but was still behind the kind of numbers seen in a contested election.

As of 5:30 p.m., 485 people came to vote -- about 4.32 percent of the town's 11,218 active registered voters.

Just after 6 p.m., that total went above 500.

Fran Griffin, who was lived in town since 1985, said she owns a small business and paying taxes on her sales to both the town and Fairfax County can be a burden; she also said preferred the town's twice weekly garbage collection, instead of the current single pickup for both trash and recycling.

But the extra cost in taxes it takes to be a Town of Vienna citizen is well worth it, she said, a sentiment echoed by other voters who came into the late hours of voting.

She recalls a bad storm several years ago that suspended a tree in the power lines near her house. Town crews came out to repair it, managing to spare the car of Peter Gemma and "left the street and driveway better than before."

"To have the police department ... and that small town feeling is nice," Griffin said. "I like that I can come down here, talk to candidates and see what they're thinking. There's a real sense of community."