At the close of the elections on Tuesday evening, only one Virginia Beach candidate was even close to winning, trailing by only 13 votes. It was too close to call. The next evening, after it became apparent that there may be an issue with absentee ballots, a rally was quickly organized, utilizing grassroots organizations to turn people out to rally for a fair count of the votes, including Virginia Beach Progressives.

When I arrived at the rally location, in front of the registrar’s office near the Virginia Beach courthouse, it was well underway. My rough count was about 50 people. Various news outlets reported on the rally and the connected story: the too close to call race in the 21st District between Democratic Delegate Bobby Mathieson and Republican challenger Ron Villanueva.

Those that rallied were invited into the counting room to observe the treatment of absentee ballots, but it was specifically the 85th district that was being worked on, not Mathieson’s 21st. We received a brief lesson on how the election board operates; however, for the most part we were there as a reminder that the people of Virginia Beach are watching this election closely, and it had better be a fair count of the votes that decides the winner.

While observing, word came in of an injunction being filed to stop the count of absentee ballots in a move to force the whole lot of absentee ballots of be examined and counted in an open and fair manor. The filing of the injunction was a small victory for Democrats as the reconsideration of absentee ballots could mean an increase in votes. It’s hoped that this combined with the results of the count of the provision ballots might mean victory for Bobby Mathieson. It’s certainly very close, and his winning isn’t impossible.

Check out pictures and video from the rally below:

Related posts:

1. Mathieson Loses Recount by 16 Votes
2. Recount in the 21st District will be December 14th
3. Youth lead the charge toward victory
4. Over 150 grassroots activists strongly support Brian Moran for Governor
5. McWaters to Face Democratic Challenger in the 8th!