The population of Greenspring Village never bought into the concept of an inconsequential election.
At polling places outside the Springfield retirement community Tuesday, voters were dribbling in at a pace even slower than what election officials had predicted for a mid-June congressional primary.
Not so at Greenspring, a sprawling enclave of some 2,000 senior citizens, nearly a quarter of whom had cast their ballots by that afternoon. The community, which contains itsown voting precinct, regularly stuns elections officials with the vigor of its democratic participation. On Tuesday they offered an exception to the listless turnout of the rest of the region.
“Greenspring is the anomaly in the county,” said Fairfax County General Registrar Rokey Suleman. “They’ve got a very, very large retirement community where the polling location is. Voting is a social event for them.”
Suleman predicted the seniors would post the highest turnout for any area of the county.
Abe Kramer, the precinct’s chief election officer, went a step further.
“We have the highest in the county, in fact, probably in the state,” he said.
Greenspring drew visits Tuesday from 11th District Democrats seeking a nomination that represents their party’s best hope to reclaim the seat from Republicans since Rep. Tom Davis won it in 1994. Davis announced his retirement earlier this year.
Over the years it has hosted numerous politicos courting a constituency more certain than any other to turn out on election day, including a joint appearance by former Gov. Mark Warner and Sen. Jim Webb when Webb was first seeking election in 2006.
“This really is a community in itself; it’s a perfect spot tobe able to make a presentation, or to appeal to that certain demographic,” Greenspring spokesman Jason Connors said.
