Election Day 2009 Photos

What a long, long day!

We just finished counting up the write-in votes in Charlottesville at 10:35 p.m. Considering that I've been awake since 4:00 o'clock a.m., I'm going to forgo analyzing those results until a more conscious moment, perhaps tomorrow after the canvass is complete.

To whet your appetite, however, I will mention that "Bernard Madoff" earned a vote for Commissioner of the Revenue and "Scrooge McDuck" was someone's preference for Charlottesville Treasurer. Over 800 write-in votes were cast, mostly in the uncontested races for School Board, Commonwealth's Attorney, Commissioner of the Revenue, and Treasurer -- though there were also write-in votes in the triple digits for City Council. By contrast, the statewide races and the contest for the House of Delegates received only a handful of write-in votes.

Here are a few photos I took during the course of the day.

The day began with a smell of smoke in the City Hall Annex, where the Office of Voter Registration and Elections is located. A call to 911 summoned the fire brigade, who found nothing hazardous but who agreed we did the right thing by reporting a possible emergency.

Andrew Williams, a write-in candidate for City Council, seemed to be everywhere during the course of the day. I found him first in the early morning light outside Tonsler Precinct.

A mysterious hot-air balloon hovered over Charlottesville during the morning of Election Day. I caught this photo near Venable Precinct, on Fourteenth Street.

Walker Precinct had a steady stream of voters throughout the day and, as usual, reported the highest percentage of voter turnout among Charlottesville's eight precincts.

Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris, seen here campaigning outside of Clark Precinct, won re-election to City Council handily, with over 6,000 votes.

Independent candidate Robert Brandon Smith III challenged incumbent Delegate David Toscano in the 57th House district. Here he's campaigning outside of Recreation Precinct. He eventually earned about 21% of the vote in the two-way contest.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate R. Creigh Deeds stopped in Charlottesville as he made his way from Bath County to Richmond. He greeted supporters, including Charlottesville Commonwealth's Attorney Dave Chapman, outside Recreation Precinct at 11:30 a.m.

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