The Curmudgeon just voted at the Lyon Village precinct in Arlington and--no surprise here--turnout is light. As of 10:45 a.m., we were the 161st voter. Nice not to have to wait, but not very exciting.
Yet, that's the way the old Virginia Byrd machine wanted it when they installed off-off year elections for the General Assembly. At one point back in the '60's and early '70's, Virginia had the lowest turnout in the nation for state legislative elections. (Of course, back then, the real election was the Democratic primary; there was no Republican Party to speak of. We don't miss those days.)
The low turnout in Arlington is also because there's not a single competitive race. If we were to put odds on any kind of upset, we'd give County Board Republican candidate Mike McMenamim a slight chance to pick up a seat, but it'd still be a shocker. (Mike M. could win if the the Green candidate, Josh Ruebner, siphons off enough Dem. votes and Mike, who is really an independent, gets some decent turnout of his supporters.)
We would guess that turnout is a bit more robust in Fairfax County, where there are some hot and heavy races, especially for the state Senate. We'll see--results in a few hours.
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