(Updated at 1 a.m.) The eyes of the nation are on the statewide races in Virginia tonight — and, at least occasionally, on Arlington, which is remaining deep blue.
Another Election Day has resulted in another decisive sweep for Arlington Democrats in the local races.
Some 26% of registered voters in Arlington have shown up to the polls so far on Election Day as of 5 p.m., according to the county elections office.
Adding that to the 26.5% of Arlingtonians who voted early, that means turnout was nearly 53% with two hours until the polls close at 7 p.m.
(Updated, 4:10 p.m.) Today, Arlington residents are arriving at community centers, churches, libraries, schools, apartment complexes, and university lecture halls across the county to vote.
“Our voice matters,” one voter told ARLnow standing outside of her polling place at Drew Community Center. “It’s our duty. It’s important to have a voice for our kids, for our community, for our health.”
Voting Getting Underway — It’s Election Day. Polling places in Arlington are open from 6 a.m.-7 p.m. today. The statewide race for governor is dominating headlines, but here in Arlington there are local races for County Board, School Board and Virginia House of Delegates, plus bond referenda.
Three-Day Week for Students — “It’ll be a three-day work week, so to speak, for Arlington students this week. Classrooms will be closed on Nov. 2 for Election Day, and on Nov. 4, the school system will for the first time celebrate Diwali – a Hindu festival of lights – by taking the day off.” [Sun Gazette]
On the eve of Election Day, some of Arlington’s candidates are hopeful that this election cycle will bring a refresh to local politics, even while history suggests otherwise.
This year, four candidates are vying for one seat on the County Board — including three independents — and two candidates are competing for a seat on the School Board.
In the first gubernatorial race since Virginia implemented an array of voting reforms, one thing remains the same: early voter turnout in Arlington continues to surpass regional and state levels.
It’s a trend that Arlington’s general registrar and election director Gretchen Reinemeyer says she has seen since she started working with the county in 2008 as a seasonal employee with the Voting and Elections Office.
Elections in Arlington County could change dramatically in the coming years.
First, County Board members are considering whether to do away with first-past-the-post voting for their seats and replace it with ranked-choice voting (RCV). And second, a 16-person bipartisan commission is redrawing boundaries for Virginia’s congressional, state Senate and House of Delegates districts, replacing the former redistricting process led by the state legislature.
A recall effort targeting Arlington’s top prosecutor is reportedly gaining some traction.
In August, a political group named Virginians for Safe Communities (VSC) launched a recall effort against Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington County and the City of Falls Church, as well as her counterparts Buta Biberaj and Steve Descano in Loudoun and Fairfax counties, respectively.
Board OKs More Small Biz Money — “The Arlington County Board voted 5-0 today to approve the Small Business GRANT 2.0 program, which will provide direct financial assistance to small businesses as they continue to recover from the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The GRANT 2.0 program will provide immediate funds to businesses and nonprofits to aid in their short-term recovery.” [Arlington County]
Amazon Ramps Up HQ2 Hiring — “That job posting is one of roughly 2,700 openings newly unveiled by Amazon for its HQ2 campus, 99% of which are full-time corporate roles. The slew of new openings was added to the company’s jobs site earlier this week, ahead of Wednesday’s annual Amazon Career Day, held virtually… This is one of the bigger hiring pushes by the tech giant, which disclosed this month that its latest HQ2 employee tally tops 3,000, nearly double its last count in December.” [Washington Business Journal]
Local Virginia House of Delegates candidates had similar things to say on hot topics facing the Commonwealth, during a forum hosted by the Arlington County Civic Federation.
While not all candidates were present, those who were in attendance, regardless of political affiliation, voiced support for rail transit and criminal justice reform while decrying the influence of corporate money in state politics.
Ranked-choice voting is supported by all four candidates for County Board, according to their comments at an Arlington Committee of 100 candidate forum held last night (Wednesday).
The event was the first candidate forum of the fall general election season.
A now-former Arlington elections official is facing charges after police say she improperly removed someone from the voter roll.
Tyra Baker turned herself in on August 26, according to Arlington County police, after arrest warrants were issued in connection to an incident last fall involving Baker’s service in the elections office. She was released on bond but is due to be arraigned in court today (Thursday) on charges of voter intimidation, a misdemeanor, and election official corrupt conduct, a felony, according to court records.
