Election Day 2016 Open Thread: What Are You Seeing, Hearing?

Please feel free to use this as an open thread to discuss what you’re seeing and hearing out there today.  Thanks. Oh, and check out IWillVote.com and 866ourvote.org for any questions about voting in Virginia. Need info on what constitutes a valid voter ID? Check out the guidelines here. And, of course, make sure you vote Democratic up and down the ballot! Thanks.

UPDATE 6:12 pm: Per @fairfaxvotes – “6 p.m update: Near 80% turnout (in-person today + absentee). Polls close at 7 p.m. 2012 and 2008 final turnout — 80%.”

UPDATE 4:08 pm: From ArlNow – “As of 3:45 p.m., nearly 75 percent of active registered voters in Arlington have cast a ballot in today’s election, according to elections officials.”

UPDATE 3:30 pm: @geoffreyvs of Larry Sabato’s “Crystal Ball” tweeted some good background info on Virginia earlier today. “The main reason VA has gone from consistently R in pres years to battleground/maybe even Leans D is fairly simple: Northern Virginia. 1968-2012: Share of statewide pres vote fairly constant in Hampton Roads (19.8%-20.6%) & Greater RVA (16.3-17.4%); NoVA 20.9% to 34.0%! And NoVA went from being competitive — GOP won it by 1-2 pts from 1992 to 2000 — to uncompetitive. Obama won by 20 & 16 pts in 2008-12. Fairfax Co., by far the biggest VA locality, is pivotal. In 2012, it provided 13.7% of the state’s total vote & Obama won it by 20.5 pts. FWIW greater NoVA responsible for 86.5% of overall uptick in early absentee voting…One county to watch is Loudoun. It’s big & swingier than Fairfax/PWC. If Clinton is winning Lou by at least 4-5, VA is over. Concern for Ds has to be black turnout, of course. Early absentee numbers are down in many localities with larger black populations. At the same time, absentees are up massively in Prince William Co., which has the third-largest Latino pop of any VA locality (22%). From a broader view, key to winning Virginia is the 3 major metro areas — Northern VA, Greater Richmond, Hampton Roads aka ‘Urban Crescent'”

UPDATE 2:50 pm: From @frankoanderson – “Over 300,000 voters in Fairfax County so far today as of 2pm (not including absentees, which are now being counted) @fairfaxvotes” And from @FallsChurchGov  – “As of 2pm, 70% of registered City of #Falls Church residents have voted! That’s 42% today. About a 10min wait at polls right now.” And from @deltoscano – “Will Charlottesville beat our 2012 turnout of 80.3%? If you go vote, it will help … less than 5 hours left.” And from @benchmarkpol – “Report of long lines and heavy turnout continuing into the midday in Norfolk, VA. Norfolk is a Dem +46 county.”

UPDATE 12:31 pm: From @benchmarkpol – “Virginia Commonwealth University polling location. Very heavy turnout continues in RVA.” Also, from  ‏@mattcorridoni – “Line around the corner here in the Second District at @VCU polling location as @LevarStoney greets supporters waiting to vote #rvamayor” And per ‏@MichaelLeePope 5h5 hours, “75% of registered voters in Virginia expected to turnout for #ElectionDay” And from @CvilleVotes  – “City of Charlottesville unofficial turnout – 9 AM – 22.4% of active registered voters.” From @ArlingtonVotes – “Update as of 11am: turnout is running about 30% of active registered voters.”

UPDATE 12:25 pm: From FCDC Executive Director @frankoanderson: “682,835 or 51% of Fairfax County has already cast their ballots.. and that was before noon. @fairfaxvotes #VirWINia” I also hear 27.5% turnout in Loudoun County as of  10:30 am. And just saw this from British journalist @harry_horton: “Here in Arlington, Virginia we’re almost at 60% turnout which was the 2012 level. Still 7hrs left so should easily exceed that.”

UPDATE: I’m told that as of 11 am, turnout in Fairfax County was 230,121 voters (33.7%), NOT counting absentees/early voting (which was yuge!).

UPDATE: Arlington Dem Josh Katcher reports, “11am – What I’m hearing: we are ahead of our vote totals as of this time four years ago here in ARL Cty; poll stations are functioning very efficiently; and [Arlington Dems Chair] Kip Malinosky has already had 14 cups of coffee.”