Based on the volume of absentee voting across Virginia, the Roanoke Times reports: "Most localities, including Roanoke, see a small turnout similar to the one in 2003 -- except Chesterfield County." Here's what's going on in Fairfax County, home of many interesting races:
"It's comparable to 2003, the last time we had these legislative races on the ballot," deputy registrar Gary Scott said. The county has issued about 11,000 absentee ballots, compared to 7,900 four years ago, but Scott attributed the increase mostly to population growth and a new practice of automatically sending ballots to military personnel overseas.
By the way, according to the League of Women Voters of Virginia, "The turnout in the 2003 House of Delegates elections, when there were no statewide races, was 31 percent." That very well could be the case this year as well. Of course, all that means that YOUR vote makes a disproportionate difference this year compared to any other year. In some districts, races could be decided by just a handful of votes. So get out there and cast your ballot; it's the American thing to do.