Voters stream into polls in steady flow

By Tony Gonzalez

Published: November 5, 2008

Too young to vote, 14-year-old Karri Greenlee spent almost eight hours at polling places Tuesday handing out sample ballots.

And she made a Vietnam veteran cry.

“He approached us on the way out,” Kim Harman, 41, said. “He was so moved by seeing a young person out here.”

Greenlee, a Lee High School student, spoke with the veteran for almost 20 minutes outside Christ United Methodist Church, Staunton’s busiest ward with more than 4,000 registered voters. The encounter, an emotional burst during a long day, excited Greelee, who spent weeks campaigning for area Republicans.

“It’s exciting out here,” Greenlee said. “You get a whole different experience. You only get Republicans in [the office].”

Election officials reported long lines and parking lot congestion but few snags Tuesday despite turnouts that more than doubled those of previous years, in some cases matching previous turnouts by midday.

A bipartisan attorneys’ group complaint to state officials got inaccurate “ID Required” signs yanked from some Staunton polls in the afternoon, but the group called officials “very professional.” One Staunton ward kept 150 voters waiting 15 minutes trying to turn on voting machines and some confused voters asked questions too late — after casting votes — but officials’ word of the day was “smooth.”

Waynesboro

By 11:30 a.m., Ward A reported more than 800 voters had passed through the polls at Second Presbyterian Church, almost four-fifths the total turnout in 2004.

Such was the story across the city’s four wards, where K through Z lines often outstretched A through J lines and people waiting in line chatted about the Washington Redskins loss Monday night.

Richard Hoopman, 43, brought his daughters along.

“I want them to see the process,” he said. “They’ve been coming since they were babes in arms. It’s too bad they don’t have the levers anymore.”

First-time voter Tabetha Patterson, 25, waited seven years between registering and voting, and came out this year for Sen. Barack Obama.

“I think that this is going to be an historic election either way,” Patterson said. “I want to be a part of that.”

Nearly 8,000 residents voted in the 2004 presidential race, voting almost 64 percent for President Bush, and more than 9,000 voted this year.

Staunton

A bipartisan polling watchdog group, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, reported a number of signs at Staunton polling places to state election officials.

The “ID Required” signs were incorrect, attorney Terry Burt said outside Ward 2.

A member of Virginia Protect the Vote spotted the signs at 6:30 a.m. After discussion between members of the lawyers group and election officials, signs were yanked at Bessie Weller Elementary School and Gypsy Hill Park at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.

“It makes sense,” Burt said of alerting voters to prepare identification. “But you know, it’s not the law.”

The Lexington attorney also said some first-time voters may have been improperly given provisional ballots, but reported few other legal issues at Staunton polls, calling officials “very professional.”

Most wards reported “remarkable” turnout and no problems. More than half of registered voters for Staunton’s Ward 5 voted by 3 p.m., and only one person arrived wearing endorsement attire: a button for Obama, official Joyce Dull said.

James Madison University student Brian Perez, 22, said classes were laid back and without quizzes today to encourage students to vote. He estimated 100 percent of his friends are voting in this election.

More than 9,600 people voted in the 2004 presidential race, supporting Bush by more than 60 percent, and more than 11,000 voted this year.

Augusta County

Augusta County Sheriff’s Office investigator Brian Jenkins made it to the Stuarts Draft Rescue Squad building by 1 p.m. to cast his vote at a poll that stayed busy from “6 a.m. until 10:30,” volunteers said at midday.

The investigator said he’d been busy too, directing traffic, especially at the Yancey Preston Fire Station poll in Fishersville.

Nearly half of registered Draft voters had voted by 1 p.m., election official Debbie Dameron said.

At the White Hill polling place, Calvary United Methodist Church, more voters had turned out by 1 p.m. than in entire days in other elections, said Chief Election Officer Russell Dean.

The official also said some voters have admitted being confused by machines, but too late, after their votes were cast.

First-time voter Cody Jacobs, 18, drove from Liberty University to vote with a friend.

“It was kind of awkward,” Jacobs said of being new to the polling place. “It felt like an accomplishment.”

Nearly 29,000 residents voted in the 2004 presidential race, supporting by Bush by more than 74 percent, and more than 33,000 voted this year.