Today was election day in Virginia, and Fairfax tried out their new touchscreen voting machines. The machines seemed very easy to operate and pretty much fool proof, however, they are reporting on the news that several machines malfunctioned. According to News Channel 8, six of the touchscreen voting machines were actually removed from the polling place, repaired (ala Bill Gates, power off and reboot), and returned on election day. Republicans plan to be in court tomorrow to challenge the results in those machines. While the legal challenges will probably not change the results of any of the races, Republicans are saying that they simply want to improve and maintain the integrity of the voting system.

While I disagree with the litigousness, I agree that removing machines and returning them during voting would certainly raise some eyebrows.

On a more personal note, Fairfax county successfully elected "fiscal conservative" Democrat Gerry Connelly for county supervisor. In my district, Democrats also picked up a highly contested House of Delegates seat. Tax and spend Democrat Mark Sickles, who was endorsed by the Washington "what media bias" Post, won easily. Fairfax also looks to have approved a $290 M payoff to the teachers union which means more-bigger taxes are probably on the way in the name of ejamacation. Given that this is also the district that elected Jim "Blame the J-E-W-S" Moran to the U.S. House of Representatives, I am not surprised.

The only good news of the night on my ballot was the re-election of Democrat Sheriff Stan Barry, who was endorsed by the VCDL for his willingness to do his job and sign off on class 3 firearms transfers. (Those that live in Arlington don't have that luxury.) Across the county, Ken Cuccinelli (also endorsed by VCDL) appears to be headed for victory.

Democrat Gov. Mark Warner had this to say about his party picking up 2 (possibly 3) seats in the Virginia House -- "This is a good night for Democrats, but it's a better night for Virginians who want to see a return to mainstream voices." The GOP had held 64 of 100 House seats. Warner's party cuts that number to perhaps 61, and he calls it returning to the "mainstream". I'm hearing the word "mainstream" a lot out of Democrats lately.