Will satellite voting locations recharge sluggish referendum voting in Northern Virginia?
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Northern Virginia has some of the lowest turnout numbers so far, less than 10 percent of registered voters in places like Fairfax, Loudoun, Arlington and Alexandria. That’s according to data compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project.
Kéren Charles Dongo of Virginians for Fair Elections, a group supporting the redistricting amendment, says that’s because satellite locations haven’t opened up yet.
“If you think about a county like Fairfax County, if you think about Arlington, the population, the traffic. People really do want to wait until the satellite locations that are closer to them open up,” Dongo says. “That is something that we’ve seen here and something we’ve seen over the years.”
Satellite locations are also not open in rural Matthews County on the Chesapeake Bay, but 27% of registered voters there have already cast a ballot. Republican strongholds like Fluvanna, Northumberland and Goochland counties are seeing some of the highest turnout across Virginia. Jean Howard is vice chairwoman of the Matthews County Republican Committee.
“If we lose this, we won’t have a vote because Northern Virginia will be voting for the whole state and they don’t know it is to be down here in the Gloucester, Mathews, Middlesex area. So, we are really galvanized to get out there and make sure people understand. Don’t just wait until the 21st. I mean we might have a snowstorm or something,” Howard says with a chuckle.
Satellite voting locations are expected to open up in several localities this weekend, potentially shifting the geography of the early vote in this referendum, which ends on April 21st.
