RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Latest on Virginia’s legislative elections (all times local):
11:45 a.m.
Virginia’s elections commissioner says there were a couple of early hiccups as residents began voting Tuesday.
Commissioner Christopher Piper says there was a problem with poll books in six precincts in Stafford County early Tuesday, resulting in some voters receiving the wrong ballots. He says the problem was quickly diagnosed and fixed, but that the wrong ballots that were cast cannot be reclaimed.
Piper also says that one precinct in Richmond with two Senate district races briefly ran out of ballots for one district, but that 1,200 additional ballots were delivered within about 15 minutes.
10:15 a.m.
Donald Trump is clearly on the minds of some Virginia voters casting ballots to decide which party controls the statehouse.
Gary Keener, who lives in a suburb of Richmond, called Trump a “baboon” on Tuesday. But he also says he’s not sure that impeachment is the way to get rid of Trump, and that voting him out of office is the way to go.
Keener and his wife Marthanne say they voted Republican for years but have voted Democrat since the 2008 election of former President Barack Obama. They said Trump definitely had a large presence in Virginia’s election.
Both say they voted for Democrats Debra Rodman for state Senate and Schuyler VanValkenburg for House of Delegates.
9 a.m.
Virginian residents are voting to decide which party should control the statehouse in a widely watched contest that will test how voters feel about President Donald Trump and his possible impeachment.
Polls opened at 6 a.m. Tuesday in what’s become a marquee warm up for the 2020 election cycle.
Republicans currently have a slim majority in both the state House and Senate.
Democrats are hoping to take total control of the statehouse and Executive Mansion for the first time in more than two decades.
Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam says a vote for Democrats is a vote for common sense gun safety legislation, adequately funded schools, more access to early childhood education, and a pay raise for working families.
