I just voted, and so should you

Loudoun residents can vote absentee in person through Saturday, November 1. You do need to give a reason – such as a long commute, or volunteering for a campaign – but election officials are being very lenient. They want as many people as possible to vote before Tuesday.

I highly recommend that readers do this. Turnout is expected to be huge.

Loudoun had 179,392 registered voters as of Sunday, up from 140,291 in November 2004 [a 28% increase], and the registrar’s office expects as many as 90 percent of them to vote absentee or show up Tuesday.

I voted Thursday. I arrived at 2:30 pm., which I expected to be the least busy time. There was a line of around a dozen people waiting to fill out absentee ballot applications, which swelled to over 40 while I was there. Still, the staff was very efficient, and the entire process took no more than half an hour. Others who have voted later in the evening report as much as an hour wait.

There are two locations for absentee in person voting:

Loudoun County General Registrar’s office
801 Sycolin Road, S.E., Suite 102, Leesburg
Friday 8:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m
Saturday 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Map and directions

Senior Center at Cascades
21060 Whitfield Place, Sterling.
Friday 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Saturday 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Map and directions

Some things you can do to speed things up:

1. Make sure there are no problems with your registration status* by checking here.
2. The above link will also confirm your polling location if you are voting on Tuesday.
3. Download and fill out an Absentee Ballot Application.
4. Read the Ballot questions online.
5. You MAY be asked to remove campaign buttons, t-shirts, etc., so use your judgment.

If you do plan to vote on Tuesday, election officials are saying be patient and be prepared to be there for a while.

Most important: Be informed. The 2008 NoVA Voter’s Guide to GLBT Issues is just one of many sources of information about our choices. Check our links page for other non-partisan and partisan sources.

*We have not heard of anything like this happening in Loudoun County. Still, this is a battleground area. This note was forwarded to us by someone with the NAACP:

I wanted to share with you what happened to my mother while attempting to vote in Orange County, Ca on Saturday. She went to an Early Voting poll and was told that there was no record of her in the system. She has not moved in 9 years and has voted in all national and local elections, including the primaries. After being directed to the Orange county Registrar of Voters Office, she was told that her address had been changed to a location that doesn’t physically exist. They showed us a handwritten request signed by someone she doesn’t know. We strongly believe this to be fraud and reported it to the Ca Secretary of State. Luckily, they corrected her registration and she successfully voted today. Had my mother waited until election day, she would not have been able to vote. Remember, she had no reason to believe that she wasn’t registered since she hadn’t requested any changes. How many people could be affected by this. Don’t assume that you are registered just because you recently voted in the last election or primaries. Please tell everyone you know!!!