Voter turnout in at least three Fredericksburg-area localities was down Tuesday compared to the previous presidential election, according to unofficial results.
Voter registrars in Fredericksburg and in Stafford and King George counties said their offices saw fewer voters than they did in 2020, despite this year’s contest between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump frequently dominating headlines.
Fredericksburg ended up with a 63-percent turnout at the polls, which was lower than the city’s elections office expected, General Registrar Jessica B. Atkinson said Wednesday. Turnout for 2020’s presidential election, for example, was 75 percent.
A total of 5,421 voters cast ballots in person before Election Day, Atkinson said, while 5,863 voted Tuesday and 1,778 residents had voted earlier by mail.
Because the early in-person votes and Election Day tally were comparable, she said, city residents who really wanted to vote perhaps did so early.
In terms of the overall turnout, the registrar said voters must have been tired of the election campaign, or perhaps tired of politics in general.
That’s somewhat of a surprise considering besides the presidential election and contest for U.S. Senate, city ballots also featured a close race for Virginia’s 7th District seat in the House of Representatives.
“Everybody was talking about it,” Atkinson said.
Democrat Eugene Vindman prevailed over Republican Derrick Anderson in that battle.
Stafford saw a 68-percent turnout, and while registrar Anna K.L. Hash didn’t have a precise figure for 2020, she said presidential elections in the county typically draw about 75 percent of registered voters.
A total of 29,990 voters cast ballots in person before Tuesday, Hash said, and 42,301 residents voted on Election Day. Another 8,507 had mailed in their ballots as of Tuesday.
Even though turnout was less than in 2020, the registrar said she was still pretty pleased with the election.
And Harris, a Democrat, won the county by 285 votes over the Republican Trump. President Joe Biden also carried Stafford in 2020. Those outcomes were quite a change for a locality that previously was reliably in the camp of the GOP.
“Stafford County has changed a lot,” Hash said.
King George saw the highest turnout in the Fredericksburg region at 71 percent. Registrar Lorrie Gump said Wednesday that 7,651 residents voted in person before Election Day, while 6,306 cast ballots Tuesday and 1,217 had voted by mail.
In 2020, turnout was 74 percent, but Gump said she was generally happy with this year’s result.
“It’s about in the normal for a presidential election,” she said.
In Spotsylvania County, registrar Kellie Acors said she was satisfied with 2024’s turnout, which was 70 percent.
“Yes, and we still have a lot to add to that,” Acors said, noting that about 1,800 provisional ballots were still to be counted.
She said 33,677 voters cast ballots in person before Tuesday, while 35,720 voted on Election Day. A total of 8,347 voters had mailed in their ballots.
“It was a good turnout,” Acors said. “It was very busy.”
A turnout figure for 2020 in Spotsylvania wasn’t immediately available Wednesday, and one for Caroline County wasn’t, either. But Caroline’s turnout this year equaled that of King George at 71 percent.
Interim registrar Rebecca Ryan said 6,195 county residents voted in person early, while 9,773 cast ballots Tuesday. Another 1,327 had mailed in their votes.
“It went very, very well,” said Ryan, who was in charge of an election for the first time this year.
