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.
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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.
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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.
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