Election Day may be six weeks away, but voters in swing state Virginia are already marking ballots in an election that may see as many as one-third of all votes cast early.
Fairfax County, which began accepting in-person absentee votes Friday, has already accepted 244 absentee votes from the estimated 25,000 absentee voters who will cast their ballots before the Nov. 1 deadline. The city of Arlington, which began accepting in-person absentee ballots Monday, had already accepted about 75 votes before noon.
“We’re encouraging those who are eligible to participate. We’re out making sure people have the details they need,” said Clark Stevens, from Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama’s headquarters in Arlington. Stevens said the campaign has continued to reach out to all voters and has been organizing in every community across Virginia.
Gail Gitcho, from Republican candidate Sen. John McCain’s Virginia headquarters, said the campaign would continue to aggressively reach out to voters, including early absentee voters.
“We have extensive and very strategic outreach efforts,” Gitcho said.
While absentee voting may be more convenient or even necessary, as in the case of students, those on active military duty and the disabled, missing influential elements of the election, such as the presidential and vice presidential debates, could affect the outcome of the election, experts said.
Candice Nelson, chairwoman of the department of government at the American University School of Public Affairs, said absentee voters cannot change their vote should something happen that makes them view a particular candidate differently.
“Absentee voters are typically people who aren’t undecided,” Nelson said.
Loudoun County, the District and Prince George’s County still haven’t received their ballots from the printer. All precincts expect to mail out absentee ballots within the next week and begin in-person absentee voting at the end of October.
Election offices in D.C., Virginia and Maryland precincts will also extend hours before the election for absentee voters. A complete list of hours is posted on the Board of Elections Web site for D.C. and on the Web sites of surrounding cities and counties.
