GOP gains three House seats as Hurt, Rigell, Griffith win

11:13 p.m.

The GOP gained three U.S. House seats in Virginia as Republican challengers Robert Hurt, Scott Rigell and Morgan Griffith knocked off Democratic incumbents.

The Associated Press declared Griffith a victor over 14-term Democrat Rick Boucher in the 9th District, Hurt the winner over incumbent Tom Perriello in the 5th District and Rigell the winner over Glenn Nye in the 2nd.

Eric Cantor was one of five incumbent Republicans held their House seats. Other GOP incumbents to win were Frank Wolf in the 10th District, Robert Wittman in the 1st District, Robert Goodlatte in the 6th District and Randy Forbes in the 4th District.

Cantor said the shift in momentum since 2008 was as much a repudiation of Democratic policies as much as it was acceptance of Republicans.  "It is a vote that says, 'We want
our country back, we want to see limited government, we want to see the spending stop and we want to see a return to delivering results,' " he said.

Democrats Bobby Scott (3rd District) and Jim Moran (8th) easily defeated their GOP challengers.

In the 11th District, Democratic incumbent Gerry Connolly (49.1%) lead Republican challenger Keith Fimian (48.9%) with 99% of the vote in. The candidates were separated by 487 votes out of more than 220,000 votes counted.

4:50 p.m.

It's important to vote because that's one way we determine the future of our country, said Nathan Bushnell, 91, of Henrico County.

People who don’t vote "ought to be ashamed of themselves," said Bushnell, who flew Army combat missions in the Pacific in World War II.

"If there’s something they don’t like and they didn’t vote, they’ve got no one to blame but themselves," Bushnell said.

But Ann Buford, 57, of Chesterfield County said she didn’t plan to vote because "I wouldn’t have a clue what I was voting for."

This election didn’t seem to stir up a lot of interest, Buford said.

"Till the end of last week I didn’t realize there was an election," said Buford, pausing in the Stony Point Shopping Center in South Richmond.

-- Rex Springston

4 p.m.

Rep. Tom Perriello’s campaign headquarters on Old Ivy Road in Charlottesville was broken into between 2:30 and 5 a.m. today and some of the Democratic congressman’s campaign materials were sabotaged, the campaign said.

Perriello’s spokeswoman, Jessica Barba, says the trickster mixed up door hangers meant for residents of Charlottesville’s Venable precinct, the polling place for numerous University of Virginia students. As a result, Perriello volunteers unwittingly distributed door hangers that told the Venable voters to vote at the Brownsville precinct in Crozet.

“It appears to have been targeted at suppressing the student vote,” Barba said. “Luckily, U.Va. students are pretty smart and probably didn’t fall for it.”

Perriello volunteers are now going back through the affected areas to ensure residents know their correct voting location.

The break-in was discovered about 11:30 a.m. today. The perpetrator bent a window screen to gain access to the first-floor campaign office.

A “Hurt for U.S. Congress” sign was also placed in front of Perriello’s headquarters.

Perriello’s campaign has filed a complaint with the Albemarle County Police Department.

Perriello is in a pitched battle with Sen. Robert Hurt, R-Pittyslvania, in a race that is being watched nationally.

Brian McNeill, Media General News Service

(This has been a breaking Election Day update. Check back for more details as they become available. Earlier updates are posted below.)

3 p.m.

Democrats are anticipating a depressing day, but it didn’t keep former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder from dishing out some tough love for his party leaders.

In an appearance on Squawk Box on CNBC, along with former Republican Gov. Jim Gilmore, Wilder said he thinks the House will turn to GOP control and that “the Democrats’ message has been garbled pretty much, not gotten out.”

Wilder has previously criticized fellow former Gov. Timothy M. Kaine in his new role as Democratic National Committee chairman, and Wilder reiterated that today.

“I would say Howard [Dean] did a better job of getting a message, when he was chairman of the party, out as to what needed to be done,” Wilder said.

“It’s not been a simple message, it’s not been a cogent, clear, understandable message.”

The nation’s first elected African-American governor encouraged his party going forward to get a handle on spending and to put everything on the table.

He said a primary challenge to President Barack Obama in 2012 would divide the party and not be beneficial.

--Olympia Meola

(This has been a breaking Election Day update. Check back for more details as they become available. Earlier updates are posted below.)

1:45 p.m.

Voices of voters:

While not drawing the huge numbers of the presidential Election Day two years ago, voting was described as steady at a number of precincts. People said they were voting out of a sense of civic duty and more.

At the Bon Air Community House in Chesterfield County, Gary Macbeth, 61, said he considered this an important election.

"It's going to determine the makeup of the Congress," Macbeth said.

David Fayman, 59, said he voted because it was the right thing to do. Plus, Fayman said, "My wife is a staunch Republican and if I didn't vote she'd probably kill me."

-- Rex Springston

(This has been a breaking Election Day update. Check back for more details as they become available. Earlier updates are posted below.)

1:30 p.m.

The State Board of Elections says this afternoon that voting officials are reporting fewer Election Day glitches than usual.
 
Nancy Rodrigues, secretary of the state Board of Elections, and Jean Cunningham, state board chairwoman, briefed reporters this afternoon on Election Day issues.
 
Many localities were using electronic poll books for the fist time and some elderly precinct officials were having trouble handling them, Rodriguez said. The electronic poll books were to blame for some delays earlier in, among other places, Hanover and Chesterfield counties.

Four precincts in rural Clarke County opened the day without power, but people were able to vote using backup paper ballots, said Rodrigues.

About 10 to 15 people at a precinct in Nelson County were asked to come back after the precinct ran out of provisional ballots, Rodrigues said.
 
Turnout was reported steady. Some analysts have said a 40 percent turnout of registered voters could be expected. The turnout for the presidential Election Day of two years ago was 74 percent. The turnout for last  year's gubernatorial race was just under 44 percent.

-- Tyler Whitley

(This has been a breaking Election Day update. Check back for more details as they become available. Earlier updates are posted below.)

1 p.m.

More reports from the polls:

At South Richmond's Forest Hill Presbyterian Church, precinct captain Roger Clark predicted a turnout of 1,200 to 1,500 of the ward's approximately 3,000 registered voters.

About 15 residents of Envoy of Westover Hills came in a group, some walking and others in wheelchairs.

Mary Diane Ellis, 55, one of those in a wheelchair, said she came to be part of the system. "I love to vote because it makes the economy much better, hopefully," she said.

Greg Jenkins, who was standing outside with literature supporting James Quigley, said he was pleased because "it's busy and the Libertarian message is getting out there."  

-- Katherine Calos

(This has been a breaking Election Day update. Check back for more details as they become available. Earlier updates are posted below.)

Noon

Some scenes from the polls:

At the precinct at Retreat Hospital in Richmond’s Fan District, about 11 percent of registered voters had cast ballots by late morning.

That’s slow, but election officer Liz Southworth said it’s better than she expected.

"The sad part is so many Americans don’t take seriously their responsibility to get out and vote," said Southworth.

"I think it’s a crying shame. ... It doesn’t take 20 minutes to get out and vote."

Brian Fox, 44, a commercial actor who lives in the Fan, said he voted because it’s a basic civic duty.

Besides, Fox said, "I like to have the right to complain" if things go badly after the election.

Kristie Couser, 24, a Virginia Commonwealth University graduate student, said the campus was alive with reminders to vote before the 2008 presidential election.

This time, she said, "There’s no activity, really."

-- Rex Springston

(This has been a breaking Election Day update. Check back for more details as they become available. Earlier updates are posted below.)

10:45 a.m.

The Virginia Department of Transportation warns that Election Day is also a day to be careful on the roads.

VDOT says voters should be alert for increased traffic and possible delays in areas near polling places.

The agency is trying to reduce construction and maintenance activities near voter precincts and adding signs where appropriate, VDOT said in a news release.

VDOT said a recent story on National Public Radio reported an increased incidence of traffic wrecks on Election Day.

-- Tom Kapsidelis

(This has been a breaking Election Day update. Check back for more details as they become available. Earlier updates are posted below.)

10:25 a.m.

Gov. Bob McDonnell and Rep. Eric Cantor, R-7th, voted together this morning at the Rivers Edge Elementary School in Henrico County near the Wyndham development.

Joining them were their wives, Maureen McDonnell and Diana Cantor.

Cantor is considered a heavy favorite in the 7th District against Democratic challenger Rick Waugh and independent Floyd Bane. Cantor stands to become majority leader if the GOP seizes control of the House of Representatives.

Cantor said victories for the GOP in the four most competitive congressional districts -- the 5th, 9th, 11th and 2nd -- would be "an early indicator of how big the win is going to be."

"People are frustrated, they're out of work and they want to see Washington finally start listening to them," Cantor said.

McDonnell, who lived in Henrico before being elected governor, predicted "a repudiation of this aggressive, left-of-center governing of this Congress and this president."

The governor said he was "cautiously optimistic" it would be a big night for Republicans.

"The enthusiasm gap is swinging our way," McDonnell said.

  -- Jim Nolan

(This has been a breaking Election Day update. Check back for more details as they become available. Earlier updates are posted below.)

9:50 a.m.

Voting across Virginia is under way this morning with no reports so far of major problems, says a spokeswoman for the state Board of Elections.

Susan Pollard said there have been a few issues in the early going "but nothing out of the ordinary" for any Election Day.

Among the challenges, she said, have been some of the electronic poll book issues that have cropped up in Chesterfield and Hanover counties, where some delays were reported. But overall, she said, "everything is moving along."

Pollard said it was too early to estimate what percentage of registered voters would turn out to cast ballots for members of Congress and the state constitutional amendments. The polls are open until 7 p.m.

She said poll workers report that voters appear to be taking time to read the amendments, and suggested that checking them over before casting ballots would be a good idea.

Pollard also said there have not been any problems reported so far with the state voter registration information system. She said that is a system used on the back end by registrars and would not affect the speed of voting. Henrico County Registrar Mark Coakley said his staff has not experienced any problems with the VERIS system, which some officials feared could slow operations.

-- Tom Kapsidelis

(This has been a breaking Election Day update. Check back for more details as they become available. An earlier update is posted below.)

Hanover County Registrar Robert Ostergren reports this morning that "things are beginning to settle down" after a variety of problems made for a slow start in some polling places.

Similar to Chesterfield County, some Hanover poll workers had problems administering a new electronic poll book used to check in voters. Also, he said, four voting machines had to be replaced. Problems were reported in the Studley, Shady Grove, Cold Harbor, Rockville and Laurel Meadow precincts, said Ostergren, who is retiring Nov. 15 after 23 years as registrar.

"We're getting (the problems) resolved," said Ostergren. "This is my retirement gift."

(This has been a breaking Election Day update. Check back for more details as they become available. Earlier updates are posted below.)

Voting is getting off to a mostly smooth start across the Richmond area this morning though some problems were reported early in Chesterfield County's Winterpock precinct.

Chesterfield Registrar Larry Haake said there were delays checking in voters through the electronic poll books that lasted for about an hour after opening at 6 a.m. "I'm told some voters left before got them (poll books) up and working, and we hope they return," Haake said. Elsewhere, he said, officials stayed busy solving a variety of glitches, none of which he said were believed to have caused major problems or delays. "This stuff takes a rough ride from home base to all the (polling) places," he said.

Early balloting in Richmond began generally problem-free, said Registrar Kirk Showalter. She said one precinct delayed opening by just five minutes when poll workers had problems getting into a locked room where the voting machines were to be set up. Showalter also reminded North Richmond voters that the North Avenue branch library polling place has been changed to Richmond Community High School, which is around the corner on Brookland Park Boulevard. She said voters were still going to the library this morning even though letters had been sent notifying registrants of the change.

Henrico County Registrar Mark Coakley said no major problems had been reported. "We're steady and it's been a good morning for  us," he said. "Tell them to come out and vote." Coakley said that the state voter information system, which officials had worried would be slow and cause delays today, had so far been running well.

-- Tom Kapsidelis