Saturday, November 10, 2012
Supervisors chairman says group should look at long waiting times at polling spots, recommend ways to improve.
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova says she will recommend a commission to look ways to improve the county's efficiency on Election Day. Bulova says she was concerned about long lines, wait times and other voting issues. Voter turnout for the 2012 election in Fairfax County was 80.5 percent. In the last presidential election, the turnout was 78.7 percent (with 72,501 fewer registered voters than today), county officials said. Meanwhile, absentee voting in the county was down 2.7 percent from 2008. Lines and waits varied widely in Fairfax County. In Reston, reported waits varied from a minute to about 30 minutes at peak time in the morning. Bulova says she waited just 20 minutes at Villa precinct Tuesday morning at …
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Vienna voters continue blue streak, following district, state and nation in Virginia contests and the race for president.
Vienna voters stayed true to their history this Election Day, leaning left in their choices for the presidential, senatorial and congressional offices Tuesday. Results from 15 Vienna precincts show voters at those locations favored President Barack Obama (D) over Mitt Romney (R) with 57.7 percent of the vote, Tim Kaine (D) over fellow former Gov. George Allen (R) with 60.14 percent in the U.S. Senate race, and U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D) over Chris Perkins (R) and four other challengers with 56.9 percent for the 11th congressional district seat. The final results mirror those on a district, state and national level, with all three of those Democratic candidates elected to office. However, Vienna voters chose Obama by a much wider margin …
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
A look at the precincts that serve Vienna voters
Virginia is expected to be split down the middle in both the races for president and U.S. Senate. But are you and your neighbors just as politically divided? Check out our precinct-by-precinct analysis to see how Vienna votes compared with the rest of the county and state. For our analysis, we've looked at the following Vienna precincts and how they voted in the races for president, Senate and U.S. House of Representatives in 2012: Here are the results for each race as of 11:30 p.m.: President U.S. Senate U.S. House of Representatives — 11th District Get daily and breaking news email updates from Vienna Patch by signing up for newsletters here. Or follow Vienna Patch on Twitter and Facebook.
A look at the day around Northern Virginia and in Richmond.
- ELECTIONS
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Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Voters across Northern Virginia headed to the polls Tuesday and Patch was there to capture every moment. After the polls closed, supporters gathered across the area to await results. Supporters of Tim Kaine and George Allen gathered Tuesday night in Richmond, along with many volunteers from the state's Barack Obama and Mitt Romney offices. Did you take photos today? Upload them here! Otherwise click through the gallery in the media player above to see what we captured.
Voters at Vienna precincts talk about the issues that prompted them to cast their ballots
If you ask Roland Smith, Virginia's status as a swing state proves his fellow voters in the commonwealth are caring less about party and more about plans. Smith, of Vienna, showed up to one of the Madison High precincts to show his support for President Barack Obama's plan. "If you look at the way the economy is now and the way the decisions are made, it's rich and poor now. There's no such thing as middle class. It's been abolished," Smith said. "Who abolished it? Republicans did. [Virginia] has swung over not to a party but to the best plan." Smith has always been an active voter, viewing his vote as a way to speak to the politicians who are making decisions on his behalf. "My vote counts. That's my voice. I can't stand up and speak to …
Patch will bring you updates throughout Election Day as two former Virginia governors face off for an open Senate seat.
The U.S. Senate race in Virginia lived up to its reputation going into Tuesday's election, as being a tight race between two former governors. Final unofficial results around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday showed Tim Kaine with 51.89 percent of the state vote to Republican challenger George Allen's 47.92 percent of the vote across Virginia. Kaine won by comfortable margins in Northern Virginia jurisdictions, defeating Allen 71.40 percent to 28.42 percent in Falls Church; 60.53 percent to 39.01 percent in Fairfax County; and 65.83 to 33.86 percent in Arlington County, according to the State Board of Elections. As of 1:33 a.m. Wednesday, all precincts in the state had reported their results. Update 11:21 p.m.: Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell congratulated …
The bonds passed with majorities of about 70 percent or more.
Fairfax County residents voted to approve all four bond referenda on the Tuesday's ballot by wide margins. Final unofficials results from the Virginia State Board of Elections show that about 70 percent of county voters approved of a $25 million bond that will go towards the construction of a new library in Reston and the renovations of three more within the county. More than 72 percent of voted approved of a $75 million bond that will used to fund widespread improvements to a number of county parks. Nearly 75 percent of county voters also said "yes" to a $55 million public safety bond that will fund new facilities for the county's fire department and renovations in the county courthouse. And about 78 percent of voters approved of a $30 …
Changes to eminent domain and veto session scheduling pass by wide margins.
Virginia residents voted to pass two amendments to the Virginia Constitution when they went out to the polls Tuesday. About 75 percent of voters, more than 2.3 million people, voted "yes" to amending the state's eminent domain policies. The measure will prohibit local governments from using eminent domain for economic development and job creation. The measure was a bit less popular in localities such as Fairfax County, where 62 percent of voters decided to pass the amendment. Question 2, which will allow the General Assembly to postpone its veto session in the event of scheduling conflicts of religious holidays, was much more popular. About 82 percent of voters, or 2.6 million people, said yes to the amendment. Update (12:05 a.m. Nov. 7, …
In 2008, Barack Obama was the first Democrat to take Virginia since 1964. In 2012, the contest between the president and Republican hopeful is still too close to call.
President Barack Obama took Virginia in 2008, marking the first time the Commonwealth has gone blue since 1964. But it's too early to tell which way voters will go on Tuesday, or whether the changing demographics of Virginia and voter enthusiasm will have an effect on which candidate takes Virginia's 13 electoral votes. Virginia is one of just a few swing states in this year's presidential election. “The challenge for the Obama campaign is to try to rekindle the magic,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a professor of political science at Mary Washington University. “You had great excitement among African Americans, and young people especially, four years ago. The indication so far is that there’s some enthusiasm, but not comparable to four years …
Monday, November 5, 2012
One of the Republican nominee's final campaign appearances was at George Mason University's Patriot Center.
Virginia saw President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney both in the past few days as they wrap up campaigns by visiting swing states across the country. Patch will have a full recap of Mitt Romney's visit later this evening. See coverage of Barack Obama's visit to Bristow, Va. Saturday night here.
Carol Lewis
9:12 am on Saturday, November 17, 2012
I don't know if Ms Bulova will read this article, but I hope she includes changes in voting for disabled persons. I handed out pamphlets at the Vienna Community Center. The sign with the phone number for curbside voting was posted on the front door, which is recessed, barely visible from the curb and blocked by the line of voters. Several people told me that they could walk but couldn't stand in … more ›