Updates from the polls in Culpeper

Staff Reports
Published: November 4, 2008

Gray skies, long lines, high voter turnout and a general sense of optimism punctuated morning and early afternoon voting Tuesday in Culpeper County.

Jefferson Precinct

“We had a steady stream of voters starting when the polls opened,“ said Jim Shannon, chief officer of the Jeffersonton Center polling place. Around noon, the line of people waiting to vote was about 20 people long. Earlier, Shannon said the line was out the door and into the parking lot. Twelve workers including Shannon were on hand to assist voters.

In Rixeyville at Hazel River Assembly of God, election officer Maggie Corradi said that nearly half of their registered voters had visited the poll by about 12:30 p.m.

“We probably had about 30-50 people (in line) when we opened and it stayed busy till 11:30,“ she said.

“That’s right, wow,” said Bob Houck, chief officer of the election at the West Fairfax precinct, Culpeper County’s largest.
“We’ve had a line since before 6 o’clock, it’s been a long since and we expect it will be a long line all day, but that’s okay, that’s a good thing, a positive thing.”

He reported no issues with the precinct’s seven voting machines.

West Fairfax

By 10:10 a.m., more than 1,000 people had voted here at the Culpeper United Methodist Church on Madison Road and Oaklawn Drive, and at least another 125 people were waiting. The line stretched west up Oaklawn, passing by preschool children playing in the church’s playground.

“This is a good group up here,” exclaimed a voter near the front of the line. “We’re talking about knitting and sewing.”

And politics.

Voter Arlene Van Cleave stood with this group, waiting about half-hour before it was her turn to step inside and vote. She didn’t seem to mind the wait.

“This is a historic day,” said the retired marketing profes-sional. “You have to vote if you want to make a change. You have to vote if you want to make an impact. If you don’t vote, you are saying something.”

Fellow voter Robbie Stidham said all the issues — healthcare, the economy, the war, foreign policy, etc. — are important.

“It’s not a big world anymore, it’s small — everything intertwines,” she said, advocating for unity among Americans after today’s election.

“Whether you’re Democrat, whether you’re Republican, this is our home. I don’t care what you are as long as you remember this is America. We like our freedom and we’re not going to give it up.”

East Fairfax

Across the highway at the Culpeper County Library, 847 of the precinct’s approximate 3,300 voters had cast their ballots by 10:50 a.m. The line was about 75 deep around this time as voters Paul and Renee Estes, husband and wife, neared the front of the line.

Renee, 36, a baker, was voting for the first time ever and understandably so, was excited.

“My family members thought I should,” she said, “and I felt I needed to vote this time.”

Paul Estes, 38, who works for Manassas-based Micron, said the country is at a crossroads.

“There’s a lot of crucial decisions that need to be made and I don’t think the president is going to be changing it. In my opinion, it’s the individuals that need to change.”

For example, Estes said, the current state of the economy can’t just be blamed on politi-cians.

“Our past presidents didn’t get us into this, we got ourselves into it by recklessly spending or buying more house than we could actually afford.”

Jessica Jackson, 23, voted for the first time Tuesday morning.

More than anything, she was excited about the prospects for a brighter future.

“I voted for Obama,” she said, “because I like his views on cutting taxes, helping out the middle class and trying to stop the war in Iraq.”

An employee at the Culpeper Health & Rehab Center, Jackson said she watched all the presidential debates before making up her mind.

“I feel like my vote counts,” she said.

Cedar Mountain

Voter Bernard Williams arrived at the Pearl Sample Elementary School polling place around 9:30 a.m. in a bus with a dozen other residents from the nearby Culpeper Baptist Retirement Community.

The 80-year-old retired Fairfax County government worker named the 2008 presidential election “the most interesting” in his lifetime.

“It’s the most excitement I’ve seen since I’ve been voting the past 60 years,” said Williams, a Republican. National security was his top issue.

“Without that, the other issues are not important,” he said.

By 9:45 a.m., 725 had voted at Pearl Sample.

According to Robert Barfield, Pearl Sample’s chief officer of the election, voters were already waiting when he arrived to start setting up Tuesday at 4:30 a.m.

“I told them, ‘It’s going to be a while,’ but they wanted to be the first ones to come through the door,” said Barfield, who’s been working elections in Culpeper for about a decade.

By 5:30 a.m., more voters had arrived, setting up chairs along the walkway into the closed elementary school. And by 6 a.m., “We had a line up the sidewalk,” Barfield said.

“It’s been constant. We haven’t had a break.”

Voter Gary Colson, a school-teacher, cast his ballot at Pearl Sample, marveling at how many people were taking the election so seriously.

“I’ve never seen this many people being active,” he said, attributing the turnout, in large part, to grassroots efforts.
The prospect of change motivated Colson, 42, to get out and vote Tuesday.

“Eight years of one point of view has done some damage that’s going to take a while to fix in this country. I’m voting for change,” he said.

By 12:30 p.m., more than 1,100 of the Pearl Sample precinct’s 2,400 voters had made their choice for president.

Salem

Over at Reva Volunteer Fire Department polling location, about 1,000 of the precinct’s 2,700 voters had voted by 12:15 p.m. Like at other polling locations, voters showed up extra early at the Brown’s Store Pre-cinct, the line stretching out into the parking lot before the polls opened at 6 a.m.

Cedar Mountain

By 1 p.m., 255 people had voted in Mitchells at the Presbyterian Church; that’s nearly half of the approximate 500 voters assigned to this precinct, the smallest in Culpeper County.
The traffic in Mitchells has been steady, but quiet compared to some of the larger precincts, poll workers reported.

Stevensburg
Over in Lignum at the Hopewell United Methodist Church polling place, 510 people had voted by 1:25 p.m.
That’s nearly half of the precinct’s approximate 1,076 assigned voters.

Voting was heavy in Brandy Station as well. By 1:30 p.m., more than 1,100 voters had cast their ballots inside the Volunteer Fire Department polling site—more than half of all registered voters for that site.

Election Day in Culpeper is off to a busy start, with long lines at the town’s two voting precincts.

West Fairfax
At 6 a.m., the line waiting for the polls to open at Culpeper United Methodist Church — where the West Fairfax precinct votes — snaked all the way across the parking lot and doubled back again.

Along the road, there were signs for all candidates, and up the highway at the corner of Davis and Main, campaigners held signs hoping to get some last-minute support for their candidate – Barack Obama.

Unlike the municipal elections where the candidates campaigning outside outnumbered the voters, a lot of people wanted to be sure they had their say.

A quick count found 247 waiting, some sitting in lawn chairs, holding walking canes and some with children in tow. The eight machines inside stayed filled as the wait at that early hour was about 45 minutes.

At 9:45 a.m., the line still stretched well out the door. One thing to note: Voters at the West Fairfax Precinct are being divided into two lines based on their last names. If your last name begins with A through I, you’re in the left-hand line. Otherwise, you’re in the right-hand line.

Still, though, many voters waiting in line were unaware of this. Election officials were working to make sure that people in the back of the line did not have to endure extra wait times because they were waiting in the wrong line, alphabetically.

As of 9:50 a.m., 860 of the precinct’s approximately 4,600 voters had cast a ballot.

East Fairfax Precinct
Just down the street from the church at the Culpeper County Library, where the East Fairfax precinct votes, about 150 people were lined up on the sidewalk in front of the building around 8:30 a.m.

Culpeper County Commonwealth’s Attorney Gary Close, who said he was visiting several poll-ing places, reported that around 6 a.m., the line at the library had stretched halfway across the parking lot.

Look for more Election Day coverage on Starexponent.com and a complete roundup of the elec-tion in Wednesday’s Star-Exponent.