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Long lines accompany start of early voting in Northern Virginia

A line stretching the equivalent of two football fields forms as hundreds wait in line for early voting at Fairfax County Government Center, Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, in Fairfax, Va. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Andrew Harnik, Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

FAIRFAX, Va. – Lines of voters stretched hundreds deep in northern Virginia and other parts of the state on the first day of early voting in the 2020 presidential election.

Friday marked the first day of early voting across the commonwealth.

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In past presidential elections, Virginia voters needed a reason to cast an early ballot. This year, however, anyone can vote early.

In Fairfax County, election workers were scrambling to open an additional voting room at the county government center where a line of hundreds of voters, spaced six feet apart, stretched down the block.

Voters said they the overall wait lasted nearly four hours. Long lines were also evident in Virginia Beach, where voters waited in the rain.  

Early in-person voting continues through Oct. 31.