Below The Beltway

The Washington Post reports that turnout for today’s primary seems, if not extraordinarily heavy, then at least brisk:

Post reporters at several Northern Virginia polling stations found voting went relatively smoothly this morning, with turnout apparently brisk, though Brigid L. Schulte reported lines as long as 20 minutes at one Alexandria precinct.

However, readers called and wrote about problems they perceived.

Martita Marx, 64, of McLean, complained about the decision of Fairfax County officials to keep schools open on election day (in contrast to Maryland schools, which were closed). She said the parking lot at Langley High School was jammed.

“You cannot find a place to park,” she said. “How many people are going to turn around and leave and not vote? This is so ridiculous.”

Another reader emailed from Arlington to declare he was “shocked, appalled” by lines of as much as 200 deep at his precinct. He said that there was only one table for voters to check in at St. George’s Parish Hall, creating a traffic jam.

This would seem to be where some precincts are running into trouble. Kellie and I voted at our precinct at 6am, the third and fourth people in line, and there was only one check-in table; one woman read off the name from her book, while the other checked that against the name in her book. Doesn’t seem like a terribly efficient way to run an election.

And then there’s this from Not Larry Sabato:

UPDATE: I am really sick today so I haven’t had a chance to hear much of what’s going on- but based on the emails I am getting, Barack Obama is winning Virginia in an epic blowout.

UPDATE #2- Virginia Run, one of the most Republican precincts in Fairfax County has had 230 Democrats and 130 Republicans so far. WTF? Poll workers there just called me and said some Republicans have admitted being told to take the Democratic ballot and vote for the weaker candidate. Who is that to the GOP?

Meanwhile, Brendan Loy wonders if Virginia will be New Hampshire II:

Will Virginia be New Hampshire Redux?

It does feel a bit that way. Now, as then, everyone is assuming that the only question is what Obama’s margin will be. Now, as then, there is talk of an “epic blowout.”

Will the sense of inevitability surrounding his chances of victory — and the assumption that “high turnout” equals “big Obama win” — actually be justified this time?

We shall see. I’ll believe it when I see it, this time. And I don’t care if the leaked exit polls show Obama up 95% to 5%. I want real numbers, dammit. Or at least a media “call.”

I agree, but my sense is that this may really be an Obama surge. Clinton didn’t really make that big of a push here. Yes, there were two or three campaign appearances but nothing on the scale of what was done in the days between Iowa and New Hampshire. Also, I’m not seeing any sign of that perennial Virginia flower, the campaign road sign. Finally, Hillary has already left the state and will take in the results from Texas even though her national campaign headquarters are right here in Northern Virginia; my sense is that if they thought they could pull off a victory, they would have the candidate here to celebrate it.

Finally, it looks like turnout is heavy in Maryland as well:

As voting began in the Potomac Primary began this morning in Maryland, turnout was heavy in Eastern Montgomery County, even beyond the usual pre-work rush.

“This is unprecedented as far as I’m concerned,” said Maryland State Comptroller Peter Franchot, surveying the 30-minute line at his home precinct of Piney Branch Elementary School in Takoma Park. “This is 8 a.m. traffic and it’s after 10 o’clock.”

Officials were relieved to report no voting problems at Piney Branch this morning. Two years ago, it was plagued with delays after electronic voting cards didn’t arrive in time and provisional ballots ran out.

(…)

At the Stamp Student Center at the University of Maryland College Park, the morning crowd was dominated by supporters of Sen. Barrack Obama (Ill.). Voters waited in long lines at the polling place there.

There were a few supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton urging votes for her, but most of the last-minute campaigners were supporters of Obama. No Republican boosters were present.

Samantha Reynolds, a 20-year-old sophomore, said she would be late for class because the lines were so long.

“But I really don’t care,” the Obama supporter said. “Today’s about making history, and I think my professor will understand that.”

Stay tuned for more.

Update: More turnout news from CNN:

In Virginia, high turnout was reported in the northern part of the state and in Richmond and Charlottesville, according to state Board of Elections spokeswoman Susan Pollard. There were reports of 45-minute lines in counties around Richmond, she said.

Virginia’s State Board of Elections had predicted a higher-than-normal turnout of 30 to 40 percent for the Democratic and Republican primary elections.

And the Washington Post:

Voters across Maryland, the District and Virginia showed up all morning in large numbers to vote in the first-ever “Potomac Primary,” eager to become part of one of the most closely contested and historic presidential races ever.

Although regionwide numbers were not available during the day, visits to polling stations in the District and its suburbs, and interviews with elections officials, indicated that turnout so far has been unusually high for a presidential primary.

Like I said, stay tuned.

Update @ 6:00pm: It looks like the weather might impact turnout in the Metro DC area.