As people across the state headed to the polls Tuesday, many had issues of national importance on their minds.
For some voters in Montgomery County, like Ray Thomas of Blacksburg, the main issue in this mid-term election is preserving the republic. "For me, it’s important to be voting for somebody who is going to respect election integrity who is going to care about prosecuting people who try to overthrow our democratically elected government."
In Salem, everyone votes at the civic center. Among those casting their ballots there on a cool, sunny morning, were Cindy and Edward Owen. "I think we really need to focus on taking the country back," Cindy said. "The economy, inflation is just ridiculous," Edward added. "Those are the things I’ve been looking at, as well as our borders are wide open."
Another issue that was on the mind of Salem voters, like Adana Lewis, was crime.
"Find ways, you know, just to get that under control and you know making schools safe for our children."
Retiree Vernon Sower would like to see Republicans and Democrats working together on the country’s problems. "Let’s take care of the American people. Let’s take care of our cities, let’s take care of our school systems."
City council race boosts Roanoke turnout
In Roanoke, this is the first mid-term year in which city council seats are being contested. So, that may have boosted turnout a bit according to registrar Andrew Cochran.
"The first time city council elections were moved to November it was a presidential election so that’s not a good comparison," Cochran noted. "Turnout today at 10 o’clock was 8.8 percent, 8.7 percent. That’s a good turnout," he surmised.
Cochran said one precinct had a problem this morning with the electronic poll book, the list of registered voters. But that was fixed in about 20 minutes.
Cochran says about 6,200 people took part in early voting.
The voting ends, and the counting begins, at 7 pm.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.