ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – Election Day is upon us. After early voting closed on Saturday, local registrar’s offices have used the last three days to set everything up for the Election Day crowd.
Total ballots across places like Roanoke, Salem, Lynchburg, and Danville are down from 2020. Roanoke City saw about 1,000 fewer in-person early voters than the previous presidential election cycle.
Even though Radford saw a slight increase in in-person early voters, the number was still below where it initially thought it would be.
“I thought it would have at least three to four thousand (voters),” Lindsey Williams, Radford’s registrar and director of elections, said. “I think we’re going to be seeing a huge influx of folks tomorrow on Election Day at the precincts.”
That could be the case for every place witnessing a decrease in early voting numbers.
Places like Roanoke City have 20 different polling locations for Election Day, and each one had to be stocked with equipment and workers.
“All of our election workers will start to show up tomorrow morning bright and early, more like dark and early, around five in the morning to prepare for the polls to open at six tomorrow,” Nicholas Ocampo, the Roanoke City registrar, said. “It’s a lot of getting equipment delivered and supplies out all throughout the day.”
Polls close at 7 p.m. and that is when registrar’s offices can begin counting the votes.
They hope to get results in that night, but any that do get posted will be unofficial.
“The electoral board here in Roanoke City will begin their canvass of votes where they verify all of the totals that are reported on Election Night beginning Wednesday, and that’s about a week-long process,” Ocampo said. “We hope to know a picture on Election Night, but again, those will be unofficial totals.”