While the big turnout is great to see, the long lines turned away some people, and not everyone can make it back on Saturday at Washington-Lee.
UPDATE by Lowell: I'm hearing that there might have been 2,500 people there tonight alone, in just 2 hours of voting. That's incredible. I'm also hearing that it was an overwhelmingly white crowd, which is startling to me given the population makeup of Arlington and also the diverse candidates running for school board. I'm not sure what to make of that...
UPDATE #2 by Lowell: Just for comparison purposes, turnout in Arlington for the 2005 lieutenant governor primary, with 4 Democratic candidates (Leslie Byrne, Chap Petersen, Viola Baskerville, Phil Puckett) on the ballot, was 4,677. This Democratic school board caucus might beat that. Wow.
UPDATE #3 by Lowell: Also in 2005, there was a Democratic primary for the 45th House of Delegates seat with six candidates running (David Englin went on to win over Libby Garvey and the other four). Turnout was 6,881; this school board caucus could come close.
UPDATE #4 by Lowell: Apparently, the number of voters Thursday evening was very large, but not 2,500 as several people had initially told me. Instead, it sounds more like 1,250 people showed on Thursday night, with possibly a lot more to come in today's voting. We'll see what happens...