BEDFORD COUNTY, Va. – Election day is upon us, and if you haven’t voted yet in the Presidential race, you still have a little bit of time.
Polls opened at 6 a.m. and close by 7 p.m. As long as you’re in line by 7 p.m., you can still vote.
You will need an ID with you, including a driver’s license, an employee ID card with a picture and even a passport.
Registrars said to come prepared so lines can move quickly. They also said you should know who you’ll vote for because there are several local elections like U.S. Senate, House of Representatives, and even a proposed constitutional amendment.
Thousands across the Commonwealth, including in Bedford County, already cast their votes. However, many are heading to the polls today.
10 News spoke with some voters at the Bonsack Baptist Church in Roanoke County about the issues they are concerned about that bring them out to vote in the general election.
“The border issue’s huge. The economy’s huge,” said Voter John Ott.
Meanwhile Amy Short said she is concerned about women’s rights.
“Definitely abortion,” said Short.
“Foreign policy. Abortion’s a big one. I mean they have different stances on both of those grounds so yeah we definitely want to vote on those things,” said Voter David Ruggles.
Tom Rader said he was concerned about security.
“The border. We’re gonna talk about drilling. More energy independent. We were once, we can be again,” said Rader.
Bedford County General Registrar Barbara Gunter said she doesn’t expect to know the final results of the elections until next week.
Gunter said that what’s reported on election night are the preliminary results. So, she said those numbers can change.
She said electoral boards across Virginia will meet the day after the election to verify the results that were recorded.
“We have the central absentee precent that will be tabulating ballots that were postmarked by 7 pm on election day so those numbers get added to the preliminary numbers and then also the provisional results for people that voted a provisional ballot those are released it could be as late as the middle of the following week by the time those are processed and counted,” said Gunter.
Gunter said that it takes time to get the final results, but they should be posted by next Friday. She also asked everyone to be patient while they go through the numbers.
If you’re voting today, again, you’ll need your ID. If you’re 65 years or older, or if you have a disability, you can vote without leaving your car. You will need to park in a designated spot though.
If you have an absentee ballot, the ballot must be returned by 7 p.m. on Election Day. You can also return your absentee ballot to a drop off location. Finally, if you are mailing your absentee ballot, it must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received by noon on Friday, November 8th.