Arlington County, Va. Ramps up for Election Day

Photo: Arlington County Electoral Board's 225 new electronic poll books are ready to see action on Nov. 4. The new devices replace the old paper printouts and eliminate the need for A-L and M-Z lines.

With record turnout of county voters expected for the Tuesday, Nov. 4 elections, Arlington County Va.'s Voter Registration Office is working overtime -- and going to extraordinary lengths -- to ensure a smooth 2008 polling day.

"Registration is through the roof," said Registrar of Voters Linda Lindberg. In order to process the extraordinarily high volume of registration and absentee ballots, "we've hired 20 additional temporary staffers. We've recruited volunteers -- both from other county departments and from the community," Lindberg said.

The polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4. Although thousands of voters are expected to cast absentee ballots, Lindberg cautions that voters should still expect lines at polling places on Election Day. One tip for avoiding crowds: visit your polling place in the early afternoon, rather than early in the morning or in the evening.

In Arlington, the Electoral Board's 225 new electronic poll books are ready to see action on Nov. 4. The new devices replace the old paper printouts and eliminate the need for A-L and M-Z lines.

The county has added staff and equipment to speed up operations on Election Day. Additional optical scanning machines have been rented to nearly double the capacity of most polling stations to handle voters. All voters will be able to choose to vote on electronic voting machines or using a paper ballot that is read by the optical scanners.

The county also has replaced cumbersome, alphabetized paper poll books with computerized books. Voters no longer will be directed to lines based on their last name -- they will simply go the next available check-in. Staff will be working the lines to help make sure voters are waiting at the correct polling place.

Voter Rolls Swelling

As many as 20,000 new voters are expected to have registered to vote in Arlington County this year by the Oct. 6 deadline -- raising the number of registered voters in the county to as many as 150,000. In-person absentee voting got under way at Courthouse Plaza on Sept. 22 and will continue through Nov. 1. As many as 300 voters are casting in-person absentee ballots daily. By Oct. 10, 4,000 voters already had cast in-person absentee ballots.

Voters also can mail in absentee ballots. All absentee ballots that are mailed in and received by 7 p.m. on Election Day are counted. Visit the county web site to see if you are eligible to vote absentee.

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