Registrars in the Historic Triangle are gearing up for election night with some offices already receiving an influx of early voting ballots.
This year, during the coronavirus pandemic, Virginia allows mail-in ballots received after Election Day to be counted as long as they are postmarked by Nov. 3.
Poll workers have until that Friday at noon to tally up the votes.
So what does the registrar expect this year?
Is there a need for poll workers and when should eager voters expect local elections results?
York County Registrar Walt Latham said the county is trying to have about 22 volunteers for each polling place.
He believes the county will have an 80% voter turn out.
No results for York County will be available until after the polls close at 7 p.m. on Election Day. These will be preliminary, unofficial results.
“Oh absolutely, everything will have been counted election night with the exception of the late ballots,” said Dianna Moorman, director of elections for the James City County Voter Registration & Elections department.
But will those results on Election Day be similar to the final tally?
“I don’t think it’s going to be a significant difference,” she said in terms of the official election results.
Moorman added they plan to have call-in times throughout the day with election results starting at 9 a.m. noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. with the final unofficial results after 7.
The final election results will be available on the Virginia Department of Elections’ website. The ballots received after the election will be in the Central Precinct 1 and 2 columns.
In the meantime, Moorman said they are encouraging people to vote at the polls and to take advantage of early voting.
“Early voting is fantastic,” she said. “I think people aren’t realizing that is in fact, easy.”
Early voting in Virginia ends Oct. 31.
RELATED STORY: If you still have questions about voting this election season, here’s a quick voter guide with info for the Historic Triangle
WYDaily asked Moorman if the registrar had enough poll workers and roughly how many people voted so far but she was not immediately available for further comment.
As for the city of Williamsburg, general registrar Tina Reitzel said they have 82 volunteers, but will only be using 36 to work the polls.
“We will be releasing the unofficial results of early in-person voting Friday afternoon,” Reitzel said.
RELATED STORY: Local voter registrars face unique struggles in coming election cycle — pandemic, reassuring voters on election integrity, poll workers
She added results from the two city precincts, one located at the Williamsburg Community Building on North Boundary Street and the second at Williamsburg United Methodist Church on Jamestown Road, should be available after the polls close Nov. 3
WYDaily reporters Gabrielle Rente, Annie Gallo and Julia Marsigliano contributed to this report.
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