Early voting on the rise in Southwest Virginia

ROANOKE, Va. ( WFXR ) – In just three full days, over 140,000 Virginians have cast early ballots, a 25,000 voter increase over the same period in 2020, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.

“We had just under 1,600 voters after the third day of early voting in 2020 and we’ve got just under 2,400 following the third day in 2024,” said Roanoke County General Registrar Anna Cloeter .

Early voting started on Friday, September 20, and will last 45 days, closing on Saturday, November 2.

Roanoke County has experienced a 40 percent jump over its three-day total in 2020 and is not the only locality in Southwest Virginia to experience a strong turnout.

Turnout is up more than 30 percent in Botetourt (98.8%), Bedford (78.2%), Campbell (50.1%), and Franklin (36.7%) counties, to name a few.

“This year I think the choices in the election have got people very energized either one side or the other,” said Roanoke County Democratic Committee member Steve Best.

Meanwhile, numbers in Roanoke City (-0.1%) and Lynchburg (8.4%) have remained relatively stagnant compared to this time in 2020.

Virginia Tech professor of political science Dr. Karen Hult believes the boost in more rural areas can be tied to changing attitudes from the Republican party toward early voting.

Republican voters were advised to cast their votes in person on election day in 2020 but are now being encouraged to vote early if possible by party leaders.

The Roanoke County Republican Committee provided WFXR with a statement on Wednesday, stating that they are “thrilled with the early voting numbers in Virginia.”

“Compared to this point in the 2020 Presidential election, publicly available information shows that Republican congressional districts are outpacing Democratic congressional districts not only amongst early voters but also new and infrequent voters,” said committee chairman Chris Newton in the statement.

“While the early numbers look good for Republican candidates, there is a long way to go in early voting,” he continued. “We encourage all Republicans to take nothing for granted, vote early in-person, and take five friends with you when you go vote.”

Early voting has increased in Virginia with each Presidential race dating back to 1976, reaching a record-high of more than 2.5 million in 2020, according to the Virginia Department of Elections .

That correlated with the largest overall voter turnout since 1976 as well, with more than 4.4 million Virginians turning out to the polls.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv.