Turnout sparse as Virginians cast GOP primary ballots

[bronxboy10]

Good news coming in from VA...

Paul, meanwhile, seemed to be having a banner morning at the polling station at Retreat Doctors’ Hospital in Richmond, in a neighborhood just west of downtown known as The Fan. Just three voters were there between 7:30 and 8 a.m., and all three went for the Texas congressman. Two were genuine supporters. The third was a Democrat who thinks Paul would be easier for Obama to defeat than Romney.

“Hey, Virginia’s an open primary,” said the Democrat, who declined to give her name. “I love it.”

Mary Lou Trache, a paralegal who gave her age as “over 60,” said she voted for Paul because she likes his stance on domestic issues, including bringing down the national debt.

“I really admire his character and steadfastness,” she said. “I like [that] what brought him into politics was going off the gold standard.”

Trache doesn’t actually think Paul has a chance to win the nomination, but she wanted to register her unhappiness with Romney.

“He doesn’t seem as authentic a person,” she said.

Jonathan Oliver, a 25-year-old civil engineer who also voted for Paul at the hospital, said he’d been wavering between Paul and former senator Rick Santorum (Pa.) until he saw the ballot and realized Santorum wasn’t on it. He happily went for Paul, who impressed Oliver in debates by answering questions in a more straightforward manner than other Republicans.

“He just doesn’t seem to get caught up in the politicking stuff,” Oliver said. “I just can’t stand Romney or Gingrich, frankly.”

Source

Turnout is almost non-existent, with this article noting in some areas, turnout is below 1%!

 

[thoughtomator]

I'm going to be bringing a crowd of neighbors to vote for RP in a couple of hours. I don't want to bring myself to hope for a win only to be disappointed, but damned if I won't do everything I can to bring it about.

 

[coolguy67]

Romney is a very inspiring candidate apparently. We have to count on our people to get the vote out here!

 

[bronxboy10]

Another quote from the same article:

Thomas Pershing, a 32-year-old government analyst from Catharpin, said Paul “doesn’t have a chance” to win Virginia but voted for him because of flaws he sees in Romney.

“He doesn’t identify with the majority of Americans,” Pershing said of Romney, because of his wealth and other factors. “I wanted to put in a protest vote.”

 

[ssjevot]

I'm going to be bringing a crowd of neighbors to vote for RP in a couple of hours. I don't want to bring myself to hope for a win only to be disappointed, but damned if I won't do everything I can to bring it about.

If we GOTV we can do well. Grab your neighbors, grab anyone. People on the college campuses should be throwing parties for voters (you need an I Voted sticker or whatever they give out to attend), that really encourages people to vote.

 

[rideurlightning]

Ya know I was about to post about that. Everyone is really upset over the polls, but don't forget that those VA polls are polling every supporter, and those people who are voting for Romney, yet support another candidate are very unlikely to turn out.

 

[D.A.S.]

God help us in Virginia... Of course, all the establishment vote will go to Romney, and there's a LOT of it in Virginia obviously... But the article above is giving me hope that we can coalesce some of the anti-Romney vote just once. And now is the Democrats' chance to vote for Paul if they think he will be easier for Obama to beat (wink wink)...

 

[tsetsefly]

Good news coming in from VA...



Source

Turnout is almost non-existent, with this article noting in some areas, turnout is below 1%!

Jonathan Oliver, a 25-year-old civil engineer who also voted for Paul at the hospital, said he’d been wavering between Paul and former senator Rick Santorum (Pa.) until he saw the ballot and realized Santorum wasn’t on it. He happily went for Paul, who impressed Oliver in debates by answering questions in a more straightforward manner than other Republicans.

I bet 25% at least, of voters dont know they can only vote for Paul or Romney... God I hope Newt and Frothy supporters realize that voting for ROmney who they most likely like more than paul is only a vote against their candidate...

 

[bronxboy10]

I bet 25% at least, of voters dont know they can only vote for Paul or Romney... God I hope Newt and Frothy supporters realize that voting for ROmney who they most likely like more than paul is only a vote against their candidate...

I agree that there are a lot of people in VA who do not realize that only 2 candidates will appear on the ballot. It's great to see early reports of Santorum/Gingrich supporters picking the "anti-Romney" candidate, who is Ron Paul!

 

[jkob]

Unfortunately for Virginia, unless we beat Romney head to head we get 0 delegates. Anything less than 50% we get nothing AFAIK.

 

[Liberty74]

I agree that there are a lot of people in VA who do not realize that only 2 candidates will appear on the ballot. It's great to see early reports of Santorum/Gingrich supporters picking the "anti-Romney" candidate, who is Ron Paul!

VA prediction?

Romney 55
Paul 40
Other 15

 

[BUSHLIED]

Just drove my friend to vote in Arlington...at noon, the person said 91 people voted in this polling place. Apparently there are 10,000 registered voters for that area. Only Ron Paul signs can be seen around the area. I didn't see one other sign Romney anywhere.

 

[VBRonPaulFan]

VA prediction?

Romney 55
Paul 40
Other 15

There is no 'other' option. The ballot has two boxes on it to fill in, no write ins are allowed.

 

[braane]

VA prediction?

Romney 55
Paul 40
Other 15

No write ins. No other. 100% of the vote will be between Ron and Romney.

 

[braane]

VA prediction?

Romney 55
Paul 40
Other 15

No write ins. No other. 100% of the vote will be between Ron and Romney.

 

[digitaldean]

We have:

Democrats/Independents
Newts People
Santorums People
Pauls People

How can we not get at least 50.1% is beyond me. Also is VA an evangelical state? They might not want to vote for a Mormon.

Numbers from 2008:

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/state/#val=VA

 

[ironj221]

The democrat voted for Paul because he'd be easier to beat? haha

The media has done its job.

 

[RabbitMan]

VA prediction?

Romney 55
Paul 40
Other 15

I love that the above replies criticized this post for having 'Other' on the ballot, and not for it showing a cumulative total of 110%. xD

 

[gerryb]

Unfortunately for Virginia, unless we beat Romney head to head we get 0 delegates. Anything less than 50% we get nothing AFAIK.

Wrong.

The delegates are chosen via conventions being held between now and May. Pre-filing is required in many Counties, so make sure you don't miss the deadlines - watch rpv.org and click on "calls" in the top right corner to see a list of which counties have been called.

 

[VBRonPaulFan]

I love that the above replies criticized this post for having 'Other' on the ballot, and not for it showing a cumulative total of 110%. xD

ahahaha, i didn't even look at the numbers, doh.