Election offices in the Richmond area are preparing for potentially high turnout Friday on the first day of early voting, with a number of local residents featured on the statewide ballot and a historic contest that will determine the first woman elected governor in Virginia history.
In addition to the statewide contests for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general, all 100 seats in the House of Delegates are up for election.
During this year’s General Assembly session, Democrats held a 51-49 edge in the House. The seat in one strong GOP district is now vacant with the resignation of former House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah.
Both candidates for governor — Democrat Abigail Spanberger and Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican nominee, will make Richmond-area appearances on Friday — Spanberger in Henrico and Earle-Sears at a Chesterfield stop with the full GOP ticket, Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Vivek Ramaswamy, a former GOP presidential hopeful who is running next year for governor of Ohio.
Where to vote
Richmond:
Starting Friday, voters can cast ballots in Richmond from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Office of Elections, 2134 W. Laburnum Ave., Richmond, VA 23227.
Between Oct. 20 and Nov. 1, Richmond voters also can cast ballots in person from 8:30 a.m. Monday through 5:30 p.m. Friday at Hickory Hill Community Center, 3000 E. Belt Blvd., Richmond, VA 23234, and at City Hall, 900 E. Broad St., Richmond, VA 23219.
At all Richmond early voting sites, voters may cast ballots between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25, and on Saturday, Nov. 1.
Chesterfield County:
Starting Friday, Chesterfield residents can vote in person at Central Library, 7051 Lucy Corr Blvd., Chesterfield, VA 23832, from Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
From Monday, Oct. 20., through Friday, Oct. 31, Chesterfield voters can cast ballots from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at five satellite locations:
Clover Hill Library, 6701 Deer Run Drive, Midlothian, VA 23112
Ettrick-Matoaca Library, 4501 River Road, South Chesterfield, VA 23803
LaPrade Library, 9000 Hull Street Road, North Chesterfield, VA 23236
Meadowdale Library, 4301 Meadowdale Blvd., North Chesterfield, VA 23234
North Courthouse Road Library, 325 Courthouse Road, North Chesterfield, VA 23236
Chesterfield voters can cast ballots at any of the locations on Saturday, Oct. 25, and Saturday, Nov. 1, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Henrico County:
As of Friday, voters in Henrico can cast ballots in person between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Western Government Center at 4305 East Parham Road, Henrico, VA 23228; or at the Eastern Government Center at 3820 Nine Mile Road, Henrico, VA 23223.
Starting Monday, Oct. 20, Henrico voters also can cast ballots at the Varina Library, 1875 New Market Road, Henrico, VA 23231.
Hanover County:
Beginning Friday, Hanover voters can cast ballots at the Wickham Building, 7497 County Complex Road, Hanover, VA 23069. The hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
On Saturday, Oct. 25, and Saturday, Nov. 1, the hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Registrars’ views
Election offices in the Richmond area are preparing for potentially robust turnout.
“We’re hoping this election has presidential turnout because it is such a historic election,” Hanover County Registrar Teresa Smithson said Thursday.
With Spanberger and Earle-Sears vying to become the state’s first female governor, “I think that’s resonating with a lot of people,” Smithson said. “That’s why we’re preparing at a presidential level of staffing.”
Virginia’s voter turnout spikes in presidential years to more than 70% of registered voters, but the turnout of 54.9% in 2021, as Youngkin led a Republican sweep of statewide offices, was Virginia’s highest in a contest for governor since 1993.
In November, with the presidential race at the top of the ballot, more than 1,000 voters showed up to vote early in person in Hanover. The county sent about 4,000 absentee ballots to voters who requested them.
“I think we’re going to see a pretty high level of turnout from our citizens,” Smithson said. “They’re pretty engaged right now.”
Expectations also are high in Henrico County, with two longtime residents featured in statewide races — Spanberger for governor and Republican John Reid for lieutenant governor, as well as a number of contested elections for seats in the House of Delegates.
“Henrico is going to have a good turnout for early voting because we have so many local candidates on the ballot, including House of Delegates,” Henrico Registrar Mark Coakley said Thursday.
Henrico has mailed about 20,000 absentee ballots to voters who requested them.
The state has pushed back the deadline for voters to register from 22 days to 11 days before Election Day, which falls on Oct. 24 this year, giving people more time to register.
“That will be a big benefit to the voters and to the (elections) staff,” Coakley said.
Chesterfield County Registrar Missy Vera said the new deadline is “going to help a little bit,” but she added, “If you move a deadline, people’s deadlines move.”
Republicans are hoping that Chesterfield will be a bellwether for their candidates, as it was in 2021, when it gave Youngkin a margin of more than 4 percentage points in his upset of former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic nominee. In 2017, then-Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam edged Republican Ed Gillespie in the county on his way to leading a Democratic sweep of statewide offices.
Vera said her office has mailed about 19,000 absentee ballots to voters who requested them. She said her office has been “super quiet” as early voting approaches, but is prepared for high turnout.
“I always expect a large turnout on Day 1,” she said. “We’re planning for a big showing tomorrow.”
Richmond Registrar David Levine, a former deputy general registrar who returned to the city in July to lead the office, said election officials are unsure whether voting habits will revert to the way they were before the COVID-19 pandemic opened the door to early and absentee voting by mail.
Levine worked in the Richmond elections office from 2012 to 2014, when Election Day voting was still the norm, but he most recently worked as an “election integrity and management consultant,” who also has taught at the University of Maryland and George Mason University.
He said voters seem to like the ease of early voting, without having to qualify to do it.
“You don’t need a reason to be able to vote early,” he said. “You don’t need a reason to request a ballot.”
Early voting numbers
Virginians have become increasingly accustomed to early voting since the pandemic and the legislature’s institution of a 45-day early voting period.
More than 1.18 million Virginians voted absentee in the 2021 contest for governor. That figure nearly doubled, to 2.34 million, in Virginia’s high-turnout presidential contest in 2024.
In Virginia’s 2021 election for governor, nearly 36% of Virginians voted absentee, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Of those voters, 73.8% voted early in person and 26.2% voted by mail.
In recent years in Virginia, more Democrats than Republicans have voted early, while more Republicans than Democrats have voted on Election Day. Youngkin has made a point in recent contests — starting with his 2021 victory — of encouraging Virginians to make a plan and vote early.
President Donald Trump is a longtime critic of mail voting, asserting that it creates opportunities for fraud. But last September, Trump — then the GOP presidential nominee — called in to a Virginia telephone rally, along with Youngkin, and urged his supporters to vote early in the fight for the state’s 13 electoral votes.
“We must use every appropriate tool” to get out the vote, Trump said at the time. He added: “If you can do it early, it’s better.”
Andrew Cain (804) 649-6645
acain@timesdispatch.com
Michael Martz (804) 649-6964
mmartz@timesdispatch.com
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Andrew Cain
Politics Editor
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