Early voting in 2026 Virginia midterms outpaces 2022

It turns out Virginians aren't waiting until election day to head to the polls. Yeah, in fact, more early ballots have already been cast this time around than for the entire midterm election four years ago. Fox 5's Josh Rosenthal live in Fairfax where he talks with voters tonight about why they're coming out so early. Josh. Yeah, guys, so in-person early voting has already been happening inside of there for weeks now out here. As you can see, you've got campaign signs all over the place and then keep looking down that way. That ballot drop box down there, it's been seeing a lot of action. Let's talk about just how much. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, as of Tuesday, more than 1.2 million early ballots have been cast in the Commonwealth. That's compared to just shy of a million for the entire election in 2022. So we're talking about close to a 30% increase in early ballots, and we've still got time for that number to rise. Looking at specific localities, again, all according to numbers from the Virginia Public Access Project, More early ballots have already been cast this time around in varying degrees in Loudoun County, Arlington County, Fauquier County, and Fairfax County, which is where we talked to voters tonight. We asked about what issues are bringing them out, also why they think so many people may be voting early. As you might imagine, especially given that this is a traditionally very blue jurisdiction, we heard a lot about President Trump. I think there's been a lot of grumbling and people are a little tired of the economy and the way things are going. And so I'm not surprised, actually, that people are stepping up. I'd like to protect the rights of immigrants and women and queer people, especially during this super aggressive administration. I think a lot of people are fed up with certain things that are going on in this country and people are kind of ready for some change. What are the issues that are especially important to you this time around? Definitely abortion. I am displeased about tax money being squandered not once, twice, but more than that. the ballroom the squander 250th birthday him renaming the entire like places after himself and taking money for his own campaign advertisement in virginia early in person voting runs through halloween