Voters trickle to the polls

Tuesday’s voter turnout for the Virginia gubernatorial race varied from light to moderate throughout Prince William County while the city of Manassas was seeing heavier returns.

Things were slow at Mullen Elementary School in the Gainesville District, volunteers said.

“It’s been real light today,” said Brian Pace, who was handing out Democratic sample ballots outside of the school late Tuesday afternoon. “It’s been pretty disappointing. It’s nice outside, so you’d think more people would turn out. But we’re hopeful we’ll get an evening push.”

Pace, who has volunteered at Mullen on Election Day for the past four years, said turnout was much higher two years ago.

“Today, I’d say we’ve had less than half of what we had two years ago; and that wasn’t even a governor’s race,” he said.

Across the sidewalk from Pace, Brian Schumann was handing out Republican sample ballots. A lot of people took the sample ballots he offered, he said.
“Some people are decided, but others have no clue,” he said.

Schumann said this was his first time volunteering on Election Day.

“I have a friend who feels very strongly about the issues and he got me interested in this,” Schumann said.

Tuesday morning was steady in several precincts on the east end of Prince William County. Dale City Elementary School election official Ray Humenik said he expected Tuesday’s election turnout to return to normal after last year’s presidential election.

As of 9:30 a.m., the Dale City Elementary School precinct reported approximately 120 voters. By the end of the day, Humenik said he expected anywhere from 300 to 400, or approximately 15 percent of the precinct’s 2,300 voters.

Last year, 1,200 voters turned out in the race for the White House. Humenik said that Tuesday’s results will likely be comparable to the last gubernatorial election, especially if the polls are accurate. If it’s not perceived to be close, many choose not to come to the polls, Humenik said.

“All the polls I have been looking at has [Rebublican Robert F. McDonnell] with a double-digit lead coming into the election,” Humenik said.

The Bel Air Elementary School precinct — also in Dale City — was reporting around 130 people around 9 a.m. and, according to election official Judy Lerner, the crowd from 7 a.m. on has been “steady.”

As of 9:30 a.m., 286 people had voted at Parkside Middle School on Mathis Avenue near Manassas.

“We haven’t had a line, but we’ve had a good turnout. It’s been steady all morning,“ said Scott Aldrich, chief election officer at Parkside.

Aldrich said voter turnout is typically lower in non-presidential election years.

“It’s an off year, but so far turnout’s been good for an off year,” he said.

Outside Parkside, volunteers with Republican and Democratic campaigns greeted voters and handed out sample ballots. Steve Fowler, a Manassas area resident, offered Republican sample ballots to passersby.

“Most people say thank you but take one,” Fowler said. “Everyone’s been friendly though.”

Nearby, a volunteer with House of Delegates candidate Jeannette Rishell handed out fliers in support of her. The volunteer, who asked not to be named, said it was her first time volunteering on Election Day.

“It’s an important election year,” she said.

The voter turnout in Manassas early Tuesday appeared to be running higher than a normal off-presidential election.

“We have been getting reports from the five precinct officials that they have been busier than normal for such an election,” said Linda Womack, city registrar.

In the last governor’s race in 2005, there was a 37 percent voter turnout of the 18,382 registered citizens.

In last fall’s general election the turnout was 69 percent. There are currently 19,353 registered voters in the city. Dean is the largest with 4,270 voters. The other four range between 3,006 at Weems and 3,914 at Haydon.

“With the electronic poll books being used for the first time in this election, the lines that previously were common are a thing of the past. There are no more paper files involved. Things are working well,” said Womack.

Considering the heated battle for governor between McDonnell and Democrat R. Creigh Deeds and the 50th District state delegate race between Jackson H. Miller and Jeanette M. Rishell, Womack said she believes a larger turnout will come to the polls today than they did in 2005.

“I’d like to see a little higher total,” she concluded.

As of 2:30 p.m., 692 people had voted at the Metz precinct in Manassas. This was 18 percent of the total registered vote (3,736) in the precinct.

“This is above our expectations,” said Needham Kelly Jr., chief of the precinct. He said there was a steady flow of voters throughout the day.

Kelly said the new electronic poll books “really speeded the process up of checking the accountability of the voters.”

Bob Hooe, who voted at the precinct, agreed.

“The new process worked great for me,” said Hooe, 79, who noted he has been a regular voter all his adult life.

“I like to study the background of all of the candidates and what they stand for, and then vote, hoping I voted for the right one,” he said.

His sister, Roberta Hooe Plaster, 84, said, “I feel it’s a responsibility for everyone to come out and vote.”

Both have been residents of Manassas since 1936.

Staff writer Amanda Stewart can be reached at 703-878-8014. Staff writers Bennie Scarton and Kipp Hanley contributed to this report.