Few Show Up in Greater Alexandria to Vote in Democratic Primary Election

It was business as usual the morning of Primary Election Day at West Potomac High School. Students were in class and the main office was up and running like clock work. And yet around 9 a.m. — after being open for three hours —  in a classroom down the hall from the principal's office, Election Chief Doris McBryde and her two-person staff patiently waited for Alexandria residents to cast their votes.

After checking the numbers for the past few hours, McBryde said a total of 14 people had cast their vote, and they still had ten hours to go before the polls closed. McBryde said she couldn't estimate how many people would show up but expected traffic to be pretty slow.

Tuesday's Democratic Primary Election will decide the Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor and attorney general. State Sen. Ralph Northam (D-Norfolk) will face off against Aneesh Chopra, the first U.S. chief technology officer under President Barack Obama.

Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat from McLean, was the only person to file paperwork for governor. Tuesday's primary will decide his running mates for the Nov. 5 general election.

The last time Virginia had a June primary with only lieutenant governor and attorney general on the ballot—similar to this year — was in 2001. That year, fewer than 165,000 people voted in Virginia — a voter turnout rate of approximately 4.2 percent, according to the Virginia State Board of Elections.

The last time Virginia had a June statewide primary was in 2009. In that year, R. Creigh Deeds, Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran were running onf the Democrat's ticket for governor. Jody Wagner and and A. Michael Signer were running for lieutenant governor, and there were several down-ballot primaries for both Democrats and Republicans.

Voter turnout for the Democrat's primary (tallying votes for governor) was lower than 6.5 percent statewide in 2009. The highest voter turnout rate was in the Republican primary for a House of Delegates position (District 55) northwest of Richmond with 13.5 percent voter turnout.

This year, with no primary for governor on the Republican or Democrat's side, turnout may be even lower. The polls will be open until 6 p.m. Look up your polling place by address here.

Patch will update the results of the election as they become available. Click here for Election 2012 results.