Caleb Fisher stands in front of his polling staff at Grace Chinese Baptist Church. Fisher became a chief election officer at a very young age. (Nick Caffacus/VCU Capital News Service)
By Nick Caffacus and Alyssa Hutton/VCU Capital News Service
RICHMOND, Va. — Central Virginia voters showed up to the polls on Tuesday Nov. 5 for their last chance to make their voices heard in the 2024 election.
Voters, depending on their locality, voted for a presidential candidate, a Senate seat, congressional representative, a state constitutional amendment and local positions, such as mayor and city council. The City of Petersburg will also vote on a casino referendum, which the City of Richmond rejected twice at the polls.
Almost 6.4 million Virginians are registered to vote, and 2.3 million votes were cast early, a figure that is down from 2020, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
Capital News Service reporters traveled to polling locations in Chesterfield, Goochland and Henrico Counties, and the cities of Petersburg and Richmond.
Vice President Kamala Harris reportedly has a 10-point lead in Virginia over former President Donald Trump, according to a poll by Roanoke College. There was a Republican push for early voting, encouraged strongly by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, and even Trump, who appeared at a rally in Salem on Saturday.
The vote count begins when polls close at 7 p.m., and provisional ballots will not be counted until later in the week.
