There’s one more chance to vote early on a Saturday

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Election Day is right around the corner and if you know you can’t get out to the polls that Tuesday, you can vote early throughout the week or you can vote on the remaining Saturday before the election.

“Early voting protects you from being able to run into any sort of issues you may face during election day,” said Keith Balmer, with the city registrar’s office.

On Saturday, people throughout the City of Richmond got the chance to stop by one of three buildings to cast their vote ahead of the election. Richmond’s Office of Elections, City Hall or the Hickory Hill Community Center. So far - not including Saturday’s ballots - the Richmond’s office of elections is reporting more than 7,000 people have voted in the city.

Balmer said that’s a major drop in numbers.

He told NBC12 that nearly 20,000 more people voted early last election period..

“Two years ago the turn out for early voting was 26,000 voters and this time we’ll have a little less than half of that,”

He said it could be because of what is on the local ballot.

“There’s no competitive race at the top of the ballot like there was 2 years ago with the governor’s race. There’s just the focus on the casino, which is why we’re seeing a little bit of a lower turnout,” Balmer explained.

If you are voting, whether early or on Nov. 7 - don’t forget to bring your ID. It has to be some sort of official, government identification - like a drivers license, military ID or passport, for a few examples.

If you have any fear something could go wrong with your vote or getting to the polls on election day - vote now, before early voting is over.

“You just want to make sure you don’t have any issues that prevent you from voting on Election Day,” he said.

Saturday, Nov. 4 is the last day you can vote early.

Polls will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the week and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

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