Richmond, Va. (Newsradiowrva.com) - Over 164,000 people have early or absentee voted, and that number is expected to rise, as we reach Primary Day. Elections Commissioner Chris Piper says more absentee ballots are expeted to be dropped off in the next 24 hours, or will be mailed in and postmarked on Tuesday. Ballots with a Tuesday postmark will be accepted into Friday.
Piper says they learned a number of lessons from November's elections, the first where Virginia had no-excuse absentee or early voting. For one, now most localities will be pre-processing absentee votes to speed up the counting process. Piper also says they will be looking to get the absentee precinct counts out faster so there are not big shifts later in the evening.
Piper would not predict turnout for Tuesday, but says it will be interesting to see if there is a bigger than expected in-person vote on Primary Day because Covid restrictions have mostly been lifted. Democrats are selecting their statewide candidates, and there are some General Assembly primaries for both parties.