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>Lynwood ‘Lyn’ Barbour elected Danville treasurer
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>Challenger wins Campbell County School Board seat
>State Police investigating possible voter fraud
>Voter in Botetourt says she didn’t get to choose a president
>Curbside voting sees big increase
>Voting creates traffic problems in Blacksburg
>Early morning start for voters in Peters Creek
>At Heritage Elementary, long lines of Liberty students
>Election turnout hit 50 percent by noon in some locations
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1:50 a.m.
by Angela Hatcher
Around 11 p.m., Congressman Virgil Goode emerged from a back room at the Smith Mountain Lake Republican Headquarters. Goode found his wife Lucy in the crowd and told her he was up 600 votes and that someone else would be making an announcement to the crowd. However, the State Board of Elections was reporting Goode down roughly 2,000 votes at the same time Goode declared he was ahead by 600.
Nearly an hour later, everyone was rushed outside. Under a tent in the rain, Goode announced to the crowd the race was still too close to call. Goode then left through the backdoor without telling supporters or the media.
10:20 p.m.
by Angela Hatcher
Virgil Goode spoke to a crowd of supporters shortly after 10 p.m., saying The Associated Press is declaring him the winner but the State Board of Elections numbers are making it too close to call fo the moment. He left after his brief remarks.
9:04 p.m.
by Angela Hatcher
The crowd is growing at the Smith Mountain Lake Republican Headquarters.
With each announcement of the numbers from around Franklin County, there are cheers since Congressman Virgil Goode leads.
AP reports that 75 percent of the precincts are in, with Congressman Goode leading 53 percent to Tom Perriello's 47 percent.
7:35 p.m.
by ANGELA HATCHER
We are at the Smith Mountain Lake Republican Headquarters, waiting on Congressman Virgil Goode to arrive.
Goode is expected to be here around 8:30 p.m.
Earlier this evening he was in Danville, and will be heading to Rocky Mount before heading to the West Lake area.
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6:30 p.m. Update
By MOLLIE HALPERN
Many of you have contacted us through phone calls and e-mails expressing your concern about sample ballots.
Sample ballots are being handed out at polling places across the state.
Some are filled out with republican candidates -- other with democrats.
Some of you say the ballots shouldn't be handed out so close to the polling places because they can influence someone's vote.
According to the State Board of Elections, sample ballots can be distributed anywhere in the polling place.
The ballots can even be taken into the booth with the voters.
They are designed to help guide voters in casting their ballots.
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7:08 p.m.
The polls are now closed. At William Ruffner Middle School the doors are closed and poll workers are counting the ballots. Of the 3,837 people who were registered to vote at William Ruffner Middle School, poll workers say about 2,300 actually voted.
-- Lindsey Henley
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5:25 p.m.
Two precincts are reporting results already. ELECTION RESULTS - Results will update as precincts begin to report votes.
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4:45 p.m.
According to local registrars there have been reported and confirmed cases of voting machines malfunctioning and poll-worker error today.
If you had a problem, you can either file a complaint with your local electoral board or with the State Board of Elections.
The State Board of Elections says complaints will be investigated.
--Lindsey Henley
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4:30 p.m.
By Lindsey Henley
Few voters are at the polls in Roanoke City right now.
I'm at William Ruffner Middle School, and what were lines out the door most of the morning has turned to virtually no voters by the afternoon.
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4:00 p.m.
By Lindsey Ward
WSLS Reporter
lward@wsls.com
Just got out of a Bedford County polling place at the Goode Volunteer Rescue Squad.
Poll workers there say they had lines of people standing out the door before 11:00 a.m., but then it died off. As of 4:00 p.m., there was no wait time to vote.
I spoke with a woman who brought her children. They helped her vote. One of the children wanted to vote for George Washington. The mother tells me she was expecting a long line, and was surprised when there was not.
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3:55 p.m.
By WSLS News Staff
news@wsls.com
Statement from Governor Tim Kaine:
"Virginians are turning out in record numbers to vote in today's historic Presidential election, despite the weather. The State Board of Elections is working closely with local election officials to make sure that voting runs smoothly, and we are confident that the problems that some precincts have encountered are being addressed promptly and resolved quickly.
"Those still waiting to vote should be aware that turnout is very heavy, but precinct volunteers are working hard to make the lines move as quickly as possible.
“Voters should remember that polls close at 7 p.m. and the hours will not be extended. However, all who arrive to vote by 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote notwithstanding the length of lines. We ask everyone to be patient and encourage voters to stay in line to participate in this historic event.”
Governor Kaine also noted that curbside voting is available to those who may need assistance. Curbside voting allows for any voter physically disabled or age 65 or older to have an officer of election bring a ballot to the voter outside of the polling place, but within 150 feet of the entrance
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3:24 p.m.
By WSLS News Staff
news@wsls.com
While many people may have to wait in long lines, Vinton area voters have it easy right now.
We checked the Bonsack United Methodist Church, Vinton Baptist Church and William Byrd High School polling locations, and there were no lines.
William Byrd seems to be the busiest of the three, but voters have a very short wait. After 3 p.m., the turnout seems to be steadily increasing.
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3:00 p.m.
By Scott Leamon
Voter turnout in Roanoke is actually lower than most of the Commonwealth.
The State Board of Elections reported between a 30%-40% turnout statewide at an 11:30 AM news conference.
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2:35 p.m.
By Scott Leamon
WSLS Reporter
sleamon@wsls.com
I've visited several polling places today in both Roanoke City and Roanoke County.
By far, the longest lines I saw were at Windsor Hills United Methodist Church.
I talked to one neighbor who lives across the street from the church. She was blocked in her own driveway by a voter who parked there in a minivan.
The lines ran pretty fast though.
One gentleman I know for church waited only a little over half an hour.
The lines seemed to thin after lunch.
Curbside voting is also way up in Roanoke City.
The precinct at the Roanoke Academy of Math and Sciences reported almost 30 curbside voters by 1 PM.
They usually only get 4 to 6 for the entire day.
I made a trip over to the Roanoke City Registrar's Office a few minutes ago.
Still no big problems to report.
There have been a few issues with machines only allowing voters to vote in the Presidential race but the registrar's office says there's only been a small number of complaints, and all of those by lawyers.
I also picked up the 10 AM voter turnout update:
Turnout in Roanoke City by 10:00 a.m.: 29%
Total voters: 17,848
Total registered voters: 61,823
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1:00 p.m.
From the Montgomery County Registrar's office:
Montgomery County voters who vote at the E-1 Precinct at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church, 2308 Merrimac Road, are encouraged to park at Kipps Elementary School and take a shuttle to the polling place to avoid parking problems.
Montgomery County Public School Bus # 124 will run continuous shuttles from Kipps, 2801 Prices Fork Road, to St. Michael’s from 12:30 p.m. until the polls close at 7 p.m. There is limited parking at St. Michael’s, which is causing traffic problems in the area.
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12:46 p.m.
By Ashley Roberts, WSLS Reporter, and Media General News Service
aroberts@wsls.com
Some students at Virginia Tech are complaining about how far thye have to go to vote in Blacksburg.
Montgomery County had the most new voter register in Virginia this year.
VDOT has crews at the polling places helping direct traffic, and parking.
State law generally calls for precincts to be split once the number of registered voters to 4,000, said registrar Randy Wertz, but a late rush of registrations among students at nearby Virginia Tech deluged the little precinct.
However, Wertz said, even if he had wanted to, he couldn't have created another precinct: The General Assembly earlier this year agreed that no new precincts would be created in the state until after the 2010 census.
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12:08 p.m.
WSLS viewer from Blue Ridge called, and said there were people inside the polling location at Colonial Elementary School wearing John McCain t-shirts.
10 On Your Side is looking into the claim.
State law prohibits wearing any clothing, buttons, etc. that would promote a candidate or a position within 40-feet of the place where voting happens.
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11:48 a.m.
By Jarrett Henshaw
WSLS Photographer
A bit of an election prank was played on us as we went to the polling locations at Windsor Hills United Methodist Church.
After coming back outside, we found someone had placed a sign on our news vehicle that read: "Channel 10 news, John McCain all the way."
WSLS does not endorse any candidate, and remains impartial.
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11:45 a.m.
A SUV and another vehicle were involved in a collision outside Cave Spring Middle School at about 10:15 a.m. There were no injuries and officials were on the scene.
With slick roads and heavy traffic, be sure to use extra caution when entering and leaving your voting precinct.
Cave Spring Middle School had a steady stream of voters. Volunteers distributing sample ballots said there had been a few lulls, but 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. seemed like the popular time to come out and cast ballots.
Other Cave Spring and Windsor Hill precincts were not as crowded, such as Penn Forest Elementary School and Cave Spring High School.
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11:30 a.m.
Lindsey Henley
WSLS Reporter
lhenley@wsls.com
We are hearing reports of malfunctioning voter machines all over our area. One woman who voted at Buchanan Elementary says she did not get to vote for president. Ten On Your Side spoke with the Botetourt County Registrar who says there have been no problems with their machines.
There have also been reports coming from Roanoke of polling problems. WSLS is still working to confirm and check on those problems.
If you experience a problem at the poll, make sure you get it resolved before you cast your ballot. According to registrars in our area, once you cast your ballot there is no going back.
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John Carlin 11:20 a.m.
The wait was only about 10 minutes for myself and my wife at Celebration Church off Buck Mountain Road in Southwest.
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John Carlin at 10:46 a.m
I am going out to vote – employing my mid-morning-lines-will-be-hopefully-shorter strategy, and already the election has touched me twice.
The doorbell rang at 9 a.m. and before I could answer the person had left. There was a Vote Obama hangtag on the doorknob. Get out the vote is in high gear.
Also a friend called a while ago to say he stood in line 2 ½ hours to vote in North West Roanoke, only to find that he was now required to vote in a different precinct. He told me he will be headed back to stand in line later. “As long as I’m in line by 7 tonight they gotta let me vote,” he said. That’s a lot of waiting in one day.
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Dawn Jefferies Blog, 9:30 a.m.
Here's an update on the polling problems at Clearbrook
10 On Your Side spoke with registrar Judy Stokes. She says things are back to normal at the precinct. Earlier this morning, two of the three voting machines were "inoperable" because an election official pulled up a "Presidential only" ballot. It took about 15 minutes to resolve. During that time, she says voters were given paper ballots to keep things moving. Sixty nine people used the paper ballots to cast their vote. She says they did not run out of paper ballots.
9:25 a.m.
By WSLS News Staff
news@wsls.com
Poll workers at Green Valley Elementary School in Roanoke County said 500 people had voted by 8:30 a.m., and they had a line out the door when they opened at 6:00 a.m. this morning.
Lines shortened after that, and at 8:30 a.m., there was only a five minute wait.
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Dawn Jefferies Blog, 9:00 a.m.
A woman in Riner called about sample ballots being handed out at Auburn High School. She says people are outside the polling place handing them out while they wait in line. When you read the ballot, all of the Republican candidates are marked with an 'X'. She worries some voters may see that as the way to make their selections.
Again, we are working to confirm incidents with each registrar.
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Dawn Jefferies Blog, 7:45 a.m.
People started calling into the newsroom early reporting apparent polling problems. We are attempting to confirm the cases.
One reported that the three voting machines at Clearbrook Elementary have broken down and poll workers are running out of the 150 paper ballots they have to give out. Voters who were able to vote already had to use the paper ballots.
This caller also said turn out is higher than usual. Usually, he says there are six people at the precinct. This time there were dozens.
Another caller said volunteers in Pittsylvania County at the Woodsmen of the World precinct are being told --while in line-- they need two forms of id-- not the one required by the state-- in order to vote. She says people are leaving without voting. The person checking them in if they wait, then says you only need one. She says the poll volunteers outside are saying that's what they were told to tell voters at a meeting Sunday.
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Dawn Jefferies Blog, 7:08 a.m.
I just walked off the set from doing this morning's show, a show filled with firsts.
I witnessed history, so early in the morning. I witnessed something I've not seen in my more than ten years as a journalist: Lines at the polls before they even opened. I saw more people lined up and going in to vote during this morning's live shot at 5 than I've seen in entire days in previous elections. As a journalist, I have the privilege to often get an up close look at history in the making.
This election day, it was a privilege to watch people in our community get excited about their civic duty, their chance to be a part of this process. If you haven't done so already, get out and vote. Make your voice heard!!
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