Election signs at Marsteller Middle School in Bristow on Election Day, Nov. 4, 2014.In this midterm election, more voters came to the polls knowing for whom they intended to cast their ballots. Volunteers at several Brentsville voting locations confirmed this.
As expected, Western Prince William voters were divided, although in general volunteers handing out sample ballots believed more voters favored Republican candidates.
At Bristow Run Elementary around noon time, it appeared that the vote was split 2/3 in favor of the Republicans.
“People are very certain of who they are voting for,” said Republican volunteer Tina Taylor, who noticed that few people took both Republican and Democratic sample ballots. And many voters refused to take either sample ballot, she explained.
However at the Haymarket precinct at the Old PACE West School, voters were more evenly divided. Bill Hardy, Chairman of the Gainesville Magisterial Democratic Committee, said he believes the Haymarket Precinct is becoming more Democratic.
“It’s trending Democratic in the long run because of high-density development,” Hardy said.
He recognized that in midterm elections more rural families come out to vote, and they tend to vote more in favor of Republicans. However, he said he believes if the precinct has a high turn out, it will go Democratic, but if it has a low turnout, it will go Republican.
Hardy said people might be surprised to learn that there are many Democrats in the Gainesville district, a historically Republican area. He wants those Democrats to come out of hiding, which is why his committee made t-shirts that said “Democrat and Proud of It!”
He said it is sometimes difficult to get Democrats to come out and vote, and unfortunately sometimes a radical message carries more pull with voters than a logical one.
However, at Brentsville District High School, a very right-leaning district, there were no Democrat volunteers there to hand out sample ballots.
Carol Hanna, a Democratic volunteer at Marsteller Middle School, saw a more evenly divided precinct, saying that she had passed out a lot of sample ballots, and some people would take ballots for both parties.
Voters Wanting Change
Two voters had very different opinions on government. However, they agreed on the importance of coming out to vote even in a midterm election.
“I vote all the time. I vote in all elections because I think it’s important,” said Tom of Bristow, who asked that Bristow Beat not use his last name.
Tom has strong opinions on the two-party system and said he wished citizens got a chance to vote directly on the issues. If he could, Tom said he would vote to help stop the spread of Ebola in Africa, and vote to stop bombing in Syria.
However, he said the current system is broken.
“I don’t see that the two-party system is working. Politicians, they hide behind catch phrases."
Tom also said he is disgusted with career politicians who never bring about real change, calling for them to “make it better or leave." Tom defined traditional affiliation, saying he voted against all incumbents and voted for one independent candidate.
Meanwhile, a Bristow woman voting at the BRES precinct, said she was also disgusted with politics but for different reasons. She said she would be voting Republican to use her vote as a vote against President Obama and hopefully to fire Harry Reid from his position as Senate Majority Leader.
The voter said she disagrees with almost all, if not all, of President Obama’s policies.
“Everything: foreign policy, local policy; he won’t close the borders. He’s not protecting us. We just need to get rid of that agenda,” she said.
Criticizing the President's social agenda as well, she said she is pro-life and described the President as being “pro-abortion.”
Voter ID Laws
Hardy said it will be curious to see how the new election laws requiring state-issued voter IDs in Virginia will affect the election. Personally, he is opposed to more stringent election laws and believes it further disenfranchises people who are already somewhat disenfranchised, especially targeting Democratic voters.
“I think it’s a concern. Frankly, I think we should be doing everything we can to encourage everyone who is registered to vote to get out and vote.”
Exercising The Right to Vote
Even though midterm elections have much lower turnout than presidential elections, those who turned out to vote said they believe it is very important to participate in the political process.
At the Brentsville District High School precinct in Nokesville, Carol Coving and her husband Dave said they always vote.
“If people didn’t learn how important it is to vote in Florida with Bush v. Gore, I don’t know when they are going to learn that every vote counts,” Carol said.
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