Polls Close: Turnout Above Expectations in City

UPDATE - 6:58 p.m. -

More than a quarter of Fredericksburg's registered voters have cast ballots as of 6 p.m., according to numbers provided by the Fredericksburg Registrar's Office. In all, 3,719 of the city's 14,197 registered voters have exercised their right to vote.

As of 6 p.m., an hour before polls closed:

    •    1,118 people have voted in precinct 101, which covers Ward 1.
    •    843 people have voted in precinct 201, which covers Ward 2.
    •    982 people have voted in precinct 301, which covers Ward 3
    •    550 people have voted in precinct 401, which covers the south eastern portion of Ward 4.
    •    226 people have voted in precinct 402, which covers the northern section of Ward 4.

Stay tuned to Fredericksburg Patch as local and regional election results roll in.

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Close to 20 percent of Fredericksburg's registered voters have cast ballots shortly before the close of the business day, according to election officials.

Out of 14,197 total registered voters in the city, 2,698 had voted as of 3 p.m.

Precinct 201, which represents Ward 2, has had the highest voter turnout so far. 27 percent of the 2,587 voters in that precinct have cast ballots. In Precinct 301, which covers Ward 3, 22 percent of the precincts 3,116 voters had cast ballots by 3 p.m.

Precinct 401, which covers the eastern, downtown half of Ward 4, saw 18 percent of its 2,038 voters show up. Precinct 101, which covers Ward 1, saw 17 percent of it's 5,174 voters cast ballots as of.

The weather has treated voting officials nicely as well.

"This is the warmest that it's been in a long time," said Amanda McGrady, Secretary with the Electoral Board.

"Everything's working very well, our tabulators are working, our polls are working," said McGrady earlier in the day.

For campaign volunteers at the polls, things are going smoothly, if slowly, as well. Over at precinct 402, the VFW hall near the Route 1 Bridge across the Rappahannock, volunteers were lounging in chairs and chatting with each other and with passing voters.

"This ward has been a little slow," said Alex Rodriguez, a 19-year-old college student and volunteer for Jeff Small's campaign for Circuit Court Clerk. "Everybody's whose come by has been very polite, and even the people who have been helping the opponent have been nice."

The opponent he refers to is Fredericksburg lawyer and court clerk candidate Dennis Ahearn. His campaign had two volunteers, David and Eileen Secrest, manning a table at the VFW hall across the sidewalk from the Small campaign table.

The Secrest's live outside of the city, but own the downtown based computer repair shop Techs in the Burg. They had just arrived on the scene around 4:30 p.m. to sit out the rest of the election day to help voters and hawk campaign literature.

"This is our first shift, from the previous shift, reports were that it was a slow day here," said Eileen Secrest.