Politics & Government

So-So Turnout Expected for Virginia's Super Tuesday

Light turnout expected due to slim pickings on ballot.

Low Turnout in Woodbridge
Updated 4 p.m. 

Usually during general elections there are three "rushes" of voters: before polls open at 7 a.m. while people are en route to work, at lunchtime and before polls close at the end of the day. But today's GOP primary yielded no rush crowds in the area as of noon. 

At three precincts in Woodbridge, the day was so far summed up as "quiet" and "slow."

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At , there was no line and polling officials said it was quiet most of the day. As of noon the precinct had 23 voters. The scene at was similar, two polling station were open and 24 people had voted as of noon. Belmont Elementary School totaled 63 voters just after noon, with no line as well. "We thought we'd get 27 not even 50 but we're well over that," said a polling officer. 

Turnout has also been low so far at four precincts in the Lake Ridge area, with election officers describing it as "terrible." Of the four polling stations, the McCoart Building at the County Government Center drew the highest percentage of voters, with 131 out of nearly 2700 precinct residents voting as of 3 p.m., or about 4.8 percent. By contrast, at about 2:30 p.m., Chinn Library, , and , had all drawn between 1.1 and 2.2 percent of their respective precincts. Springwoods Elementary officials reported a lunch rush of 20 voters, but that still only raised the total to 60 voting in that precinct. 

Find out what's happening in Woodbridgewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"This primary shows the importance of working a grassroots campaign and collecting all of your petitions," said Susan Allen, wife of Republican U.S. Senate candidate George Allen, this morning at South County Secondary . "Our petitions are pretty much all collected." 

Two Candidates

As Virginia heads into , the mood is decidedly flat, likely due to the ballot : former Massachusetts Gov. and Texas Congressman .

"I expect a poor turnout. With no real competition, many voters will conclude, 'Why bother?'" said Mark J. Rozell, professor of Public Policy at  in Fairfax.

Potential VP McDonnell Encourages Participation

Gov. Bob McDonnell, who has endorsed frontrunner Mitt Romney and , asked that voters turn out on Tuesday, in a conference call with reporters on Monday.

"We have two candidates — Ron Paul and our endorsed candidate Gov. Mitt Romney — and while it [the Virginia primary] is one of 10 races that are being held across the country, we obviously think Virginia is a critically important state," McDonnell said.

"It's said to be a swing state," he said. "It was a state that three, four years ago went for Obama and seven years ago went for President Bush so it certainly has the ability for both Democrats and Republicans to win. That's why most people think Virginia will be a very important state in November. We're asking our Republican activists and Independents who want to vote in the Republican primary, to go out and vote tomorrow."

Is McDonnell, who is oft-discussed as a potential running mate with Romney, serving up Virginia's delegates to Romney on a silver platter? University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato, in his "Crystal Ball" report, noted Virginia's leaders are Romney supporters and said that Romney will "sweep or nearly sweep" the state and is "guaranteed Virginia" and its 46 delegates up for grabs. 

Because President George W. Bush (R) went unchallenged in 2004, the last comparable GOP presidential primary race to this year's was in 2000 when Vice President Al Gore went unchallenged for the Democrats. Five Republican candidates, including Bush and John McCain, battled for the GOP nomination.  

That year, Virginia saw a 17.28 percent turnout. Participation that year was highest in Virginia's 8th Congressional District and lowest in the state's 9th Congressional District.

In Prince William County in 2008, of the 196,148 registered voters, 17,789 turned out to vote in the GOP presidential primary, a nine percent turnout, according to county election records.

In 2008, when there was both a Democratic and Republican primary, turnout was about 11 percent statewide, according to the Virginia State Board of Elections.

Any registered voter can vote today. Virginia does not register voters by party. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. You can verify your registration and by visiting the Virginia State Board of Elections.

Patch editors Nicole Trifone, Jason Spencer, Lauren Jost, and Rachel Leon contributed to this report.

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