Election Official Mary Satian, a volunteer, helps voters get in line for the correct precinct at Langley High School. Photo by Fallon Forbush.
McLean — Fairfax County Public Schools were closed for Election Day, but people woke up early to vote at Langley High School off of Georgetown Pike yesterday. A line had actually formed by 6 a.m. when polls opened county wide.
By 7 a.m., 361 people had submitted a ballot.
The high school was the polling location for both the Chain Bridge and Langley precincts in McLean and the county’s Office of Elections expected nearly 6,000 voters to pass through its doors by the time it closed at 7 p.m.
The voter activity is why the county dismisses students for the day, according to Lisa Connors, spokeswoman for the Office of Elections. It freed up parking spaces.
Mary Satian, a volunteer election official, spent the morning separating voters into their proper precincts, often referring voters to view a map when they didn’t know which one they belonged to. She started volunteering for the Office of Elections in 2004.
“I always say I’ll never do it again, but I do,” Satian says. “We always have a good turnout.”
The county had 243 poll locations open to accommodate the 682,990 residents who were registered to vote in time for the election.
While the presidential candidates vied for all of America’s support, McLean voters’ ballots included a U.S. House of Representatives race between LuAnn Bennett (D), and Barbara Comstock (R); two proposed state constitutional amendments; a meals tax referendum and three bond referendums.