Hanover voters turned out strong in last week’s Democratic and Republican primaries.
And unlike Chesterfield County, where some voters had to write their choices on paper, Hanover election workers prepared ahead of time so that there were enough Democratic ballots on hand.
Ernest H. Mason, secretary of the electoral board, said they anticipated the usual heavy Republican turn out until they saw the results of Super Tuesday.
“After Super Tuesday all that changed,” said Mason.”  We ordered about 8,000 more Democratic ballots.”
Election Day turnout started heavy and was steady all day at many precincts.
“We had people waiting in line at 6 a.m.,” said Mechanicsville Elementary School poll worker Jean Bradley.
By 2:30 p.m. on election day about 500 of the precinct’s almost 3,000 registered voters had cast ballots in the combined Democratic and Republican presidential primaries.
Voters had split almost evenly between parties by that time in the normally strong Republican Village precinct, leading poll worker Pat Petree to speculate that Republicans might be crossing over to influence the outcome of the Democratic race.
Unofficial results from the Virginia State Board of Elections showed a 33 percent turnout of the county’s registered voters in the two primaries. Democratic voters totaled 11,308, while Republicans cast 10,001 ballots.
Hanover results closely mirrored those of Virginia. On the Democratic side, Sen. Barack Obama bested rival Sen. Hillary Clinton, 62 to 37 percent. GOP Sen. John McCain beat former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee by a 50 to 41 percent margin.
“There’s a lot of interest in this election,” said Bradley, who has worked the polls for 14 years. She said this was the busiest primary she could remember.
Voting was slowed because only one voter could be handled at a time, since each name had to be checked in two lists to make sure no one cast votes in both primaries, Bradley explained.
Several voters at the Village precinct changed their minds and came back and asked for the other party’s ballot before making their choice.
Bradley said the lack of political signs and party workers outside the school caused some confusion, with calls coming in asking if primary voting was taking place there.
As school let out and students began boarding buses, voting slowed down, as access to the parking lot became more difficult, but picked up soon after.
In the evening long lines developed at some precincts, said Mason, due to the requirement that each voter be checked in on two books at the same time.
At the Neuman precinct at Pole Green Elementary School, it was after 9 p.m. before the last vote was cast, said Electoral Board chairperson Karen Matthews.
“We aren’t proud of this,” said Mason, “but it shows the patience of the voters. We don’t like to have the lines.”
Mason said the November election should run more smoothly, with the usual setup dividing the voters up alphabetically, so more check in lines can be running. After the heavy primary turnout, Mason said the county would be ready.
Matthews said the electoral board would likely add exra workers for the general election.
“We expect a heavy turnout in November,” said Mason.