HISTORIC TRIANGLE – Voter turnout remained light Tuesday across the Historic Triangle, according to local election officials.
Local voters are casting ballots in Virginia’s primary election. Democratic voters in the 1st and 2nd Congressional Districts are selecting nominees to challenge U.S. Reps. Rob Wittman and Jen Kiggans, as Republican voters select their party’s nominee for U.S. Senate.
Voters who have not yet cast a ballot can do so until polls close at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Anyone in line at closing time will still be allowed to vote.
James City County
According to Dianna Moorman, James City County’s director of elections, turnout “has been abysmal.” As of 1 p.m., the county had recorded 1,359 in-person ballots — 523 Republican and 836 Democratic. Absentee ballots, including early voting and mail-in ballots, totaled 1,519 Republican and 3,854 Democratic.
Moorman said James City County, which typically ranks “in the top 5%” statewide for early voting, usually sees around 800 voters by noon at a single precinct during November elections.
“Still, compared to the rest of the state, we’re soaring,” she said.
According to the Virginia Public Access Project, James City County recorded 59.4 Democratic and 22.8 Republican early votes per 1,000 registered voters for the 2026 primary. Statewide, those figures were 16.8 Democratic and 11.6 Republican, respectively.
Williamsburg
Williamsburg’s Matoaka precinct — located at Williamsburg United Methodist Church — usually has the highest voter turnout overall, according to Nicole Trifone, the city’s communications director. However, she said that is largely due to the number of William & Mary students registered in that precinct, many of whom are away for summer break.
Despite this, Dennis Morgan, the precinct’s chief election officer, said as of 2 p.m., 160 voters had cast ballots in person, exceeding what precinct officials had expected for the entire day.
He said some of the officers had made estimates for the total number of voters throughout the day, but they all were less than 150. Echoing Trifone, Morgan said they expected lower numbers given the absence of student voters and anticipated rainy weather.
As of Monday, before Election Day, Trifone said there were 261 mail-in ballots for the Democratic Primary and 47 mail-in ballots for the Republican Primary.
York County
At 2:30 p.m., Waller Mill Elementary School had recorded 74 Republican and 85 Democratic in-person voters. The precinct also had 134 Republican and 334 Democratic early voters.
Richard Rawls, York County’s chairman of the electoral board, said the precinct typically sees stronger early voting numbers than in-person Election Day voters, but still noted that the county was looking at lower numbers than hoped for.
At that time, countywide turnout stood at 5.1% for Democrats and 3.2% for Republicans, which Rawls called “terrible numbers.” Waller Mill Elementary School reported turnout of 7.7% among Democrats and 3.8% among Republicans.
“We were hoping for a potential 10% voter turnout (countywide),” he said.
