Video: VA Dems Provide Update of Ballot Counting in VA04 Nomination, Say They’re About Halfway Through, Vow to Count Every Vote and Get It Right

The VA04 Democratic “firehouse primary” took place yesterday, with voting locations spread across the sprawling district (from Richmond to the NC border). Given that, it’s not surprising that it took time to get all the ~26,000 ballots to a central location and to start counting them – a process that began at 10 am this morning.  So far, that means sorting/counting has been going on for something like 7 1/2 hours. A little while ago, the Democratic Party of Virginia’s Chair, Susan Swecker, and the VA04 Democratic Committee Chair, Alexsis Rodgers, provided an update on the ongoing vote tabulation process. See below for video and a few highlights, including:

• DPVA Chair Swecker said her “heart is full” that so many people  (26,000+) turned out to vote in this process, that it makes her “feel great about democracy” and about the Democratic Party of Virginia.
• Swecker noted that turnout in the Democrats’ firehouse primary, which was held all day yesterday at multiple locations in the district, sharply contrasted with the Republicans’ four-hour/one-location canvass, which had only 500+ voters show up.
• VA04 Chair Rodgers pointed out that this firehouse primary allowed the most Democratic voters to participate, given the timeline set by Gov. Youngkin’s special election order, and that “this was a volunteer-run process.” Rodgers thanked all the volunteers and voters, community centers, etc. who made this possible. Now, it’s a matter of counting every vote and making sure it’s done right.
• Swecker noted that when planning for this process was underway, nobody knew there’d be such large turnout. At the outset, there were just five people sorting/counting ballots, but now that number’s been increased to 11. According to Rodgers, they’re “about halfway through the process at this point.”
• Also, according to reporter Dean Mirshahi, “A
  @vademocrats spokesperson says the count will be finished tonight ‘come hell or high water.'”