Politics & Government

Voter Turnout Likely To Hover Around 30 Percent, Elections Officials Say

County Democrats say they're seeing higher turnout among their voters.

Despite reports of steady voter turnout early this morning, election officials said this afternoon numbers varied wildly across Fairfax County, from 6.9 percent to nearing 40 percent in areas with "hotly contested races." 

Sonia Skipper, an employee in the office of the registrar, said as of 2:30 p.m., there was no way to calculate an average of how many of the county's 640,689 "active" voters had cast their vote, but she believed turnout would hit about 30 percent, or about 192,206 voters.

Elections officials at polls had anticipated 20 to 30 percent of voters would cast their ballot today, a percentage in line with the turnout for the 2007 elections, Registrar Cameron Quinn told Patch.

Find out what's happening in Viennawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The highest turnout Skipper has seen in a local election year in the past 12 years is 35 percent, she said.

Fairfax County Democrats said among their members, the number of  absentee voters who handed in ballots and in-person votes Tuesday indicated turnout could ultimately be higher than expected.

Find out what's happening in Viennawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

At 10 a.m., the voter turnout was on average seven points higher in the some of the Democrat-heavy precincts like the 35th and 43rd, said Andy Henderson, a committee member and director of Ilryong Moon's school board campaign. The committee pulls their numbers from NCEC Services, INC., a Washington, D.C.-based "Democratic political consulting firm."

"It's early to tell, but turnout definitely seems to be higher [than in years past], at least on the Democratic side," Henderson said.

A member of the Fairfax County Republican Committee could not be reached for comment on turnout.

Henderson said according to FCDC numbers, 11,486* voters cast an absentee or in-person absentee ballot in Tuesday's election. Skipper said 14,548 voters applied for ballots, but how many of them received and cast those ballots won't be clear until all votes are tallied after 7 p.m. tonight.

Check Patch for more election updates throughout the night.

A sampling of turnout at precincts across Fairfax County as of 2:30 p.m.

Precinct Number and Polling Place

Number of Registered Voters

Number of Votes

% Turnout

221 Hunters Woods, Reston

2,689

641

23.8

604 Bucknell, Alexandria

3,712

530

14.3

703 Fort Buffalo, Falls Church

1,593

191

12.0

203 Floris, Herndon

3,673

632

17.2

322 Forrestville, Great Falls

3,072

635

20.7

732 Oak Marr, Oakton

3,567

574

16.1

518 Columbia, Annandale

2,653

325

12.3

113 Canterbury, Annandale

4,124

1037

25.1

705 Graham, Falls Church

1,228

185

15.1

815 Woodyard, Fairfax Station

2,742

564

20.6

213 Vienna #1, Vienna

3,841

565

14.7

115 Ravensworth, Springfield

1,604

339

21.1

406 Hayfield, Alexandria

2,343

553

23.6

508 Masonville, Annandale

2,712

530

19.5

720 Thoreau, Vienna

1,630

364

22.3

848 Fair Oaks, Fairfax

3,075

225

7.3

131 Eagle View, Fairfax

3,276

263

8.0

804 Colchester, Fairfax

1,749

248

14.2

105 Fairview, Fairfax Station

4,631

690

14.9

127 Burke Centre, Burke

4,361

607

13.9

917 Stone North, Centreville

1,911

271

14.2

932 Stone South, Centreville

1,632

165

10.1

329 Seneca, Great Falls

3,340

735

22.0

502 Barcroft, Falls Church

1,543

378

24.5

611 Stratford, Alexandria

2,293

856

37.3

612 Waynewood, Alexandria

1,130

385

34.1

223 Glade, Reston

4,433

662

14.9

104 Chapel, Annandale

2,275

604

26.5

847 Greenbriar West, Fairfax

2,368

450

19.0

846 Greenbriar East, Fairfax

3,433

420

12.2

234 Aldrin, Reston

4,707

327

6.9

*This number has been updated to reflect absentee and in-person absentee ballots.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here