LYNCHBURG, Va. – Saturday marked the last day of in-person early voting in Virginia before Election Day.
Many voters across the Commonwealth showed up to cast their ballot that could impact those neck-and-neck elections at the state and local level.
In Lynchburg, early-voter turnout wasn’t quite as high as last year with the presidential election. However, the folks with the Registrar’s Office say it’s been busy and there will be a lot more of that tomorrow.
“The office has been very busy between 5,000 people voting in person and another 2,400 who voted by mail,” Director of Elections & General Registrar Christine Gibbons says. “We have all of the election materials ready for our chiefs to pick up and bring to the precincts in the morning. We have the ballots ready.”
On Saturday alone, Gibbons says nearly 500 people showed up to vote, but it won’t make the polls any less crowded.
Lynchburg has 19 precincts set up for voters to swing by between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. There are a number of different ways the registrar is working to keep voter integrity.
“Our office does the best that we can to make sure that everything is done safely,” Gibbons says. “We’ve had authorized representatives in here every day for early voting. We’ll have authorized representatives from each of the parties in most of the precincts.”
There are about 54,000 registered voters in Lynchburg City. Typically, Gibbons says, only about half of them vote in a governor’s race.
For those mailing in a ballot, those must be postmarked no later than Nov. 2 and in by noon Friday.
With the governor’s race even in the final stretch, Gibbons adds she wouldn’t be shocked if it came down to those last few ballots coming in later in the week.