Politics & Government

Arlington Voters Find Long Lines at the Polls

Arlington voters found long lines at precincts Tuesday morning.

Arlington voters were met with long lines this morning, followed by an afternoon lull that still left many waiting an hour to vote.  

“It’s impossible,” said Marcela Ayon, who was voting at the James at Riverhouse apartment building and polling station for the day in Pentagon City.  “I live in the building so I thought I could get in and go.”

The lines at the Riverhouse location went through the building’s basement level and wrapped around the facilities parking lot just after 8 this morning and continued through the early afternoon.

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Just before 11:30 a.m., a woman waiting in line to vote at the Pentagon City location collapsed and was taken away by stretcher by the Arlington County firefighters to a nearby hospital. She was awake and talking with firefighters as she was carried away.

Long lines were also found at Arlington Central Library, where 763 had voted before noon.

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“We’ve been mobbed since we’ve been opened,” said Alex Sanders, chief election officer at Central Libraries’ polling station.

“It’s longer then I expected,” said voter Dan Peck, 30, who said it was his first time at the polls in Arlington. He plans to vote for Mitt Romney. “I’ve been unimpressed with what Obama has done so far.”

Girl Scouts from troop #5221, which represents the Arlington-area, were at the central library location selling coffee and breakfast foods to raise money for a community service trip to Costa Rica.

“People are really generous,” said one Girl Scout, who did not want to be named in this article. She added that one man gave the girls $30 for coffee for multiple voters.

At Key Elementary School, the lines appeared shorter outside, but inside the school’s gymnasium, the lines snaked around the court. A voting official said that as of 10:45 a.m., 875 had turned out to vote.

One voter at the elementary school, John Schnorr, said that the line longer than was what he expected, but that he planned to reelect the president.

“I agree with his policies,” Schnorr said. “He’s done a good job the last four years.”

Ryan Maness, voting at the Pentagon City Riverhouse location, was nearing the end of the line after an hours long wait and looking forward to getting in his vote.

“It’s about what I expected,” Maness, 29, said. “It’s my first time voting in Virginia but there are people waiting six hours in Ohio to vote early so what are you going to do.”

Polls remain open until 7 p.m.


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