About 65% of Lee County’s registered voters cast a ballot in November 2020. In November 2022, the last federal midterm, about 37% did. Those rates are The Lee Daily Register’s own calculation from Virginia Department of Elections files, because as of Oct. 31 we found no single state page that lays out the county’s turnout across elections. The table below does, ahead of Tuesday’s vote.
Six November elections, side by side
Ballot counts for 2016 through 2022 come from the department’s official turnout files for 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022. Registered voters are from the department’s end-of-October registration report for each year, such as the one posted for 2025. For 2016, 2018 and 2020 those counts match the registration totals inside the turnout files exactly. The 2022 file leaves registration blank, so we used the report. The Virginia column is the department’s turnout page figure.
| November | Top race on the ballot | Registered voters | Ballots counted | Lee County | Virginia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | President | 15,846 | 9,484 | 59.9% | 72.1% |
| 2018 | U.S. Senate | 15,041 | 6,895 | 45.8% | 59.5% |
| 2020 | President | 15,441 | 10,014 | 64.9% | 75.1% |
| 2022 | U.S. House (9th District) | 15,578 | 5,746 | 36.9% | 49.3% |
| 2024 | President | 15,951 | 10,122* | 63.5% | 70.5% |
| 2025 | Governor | 15,818 | 6,465* | 40.9% | 54.3% |
Lee County’s rate was below the state’s in 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2025, by 10.2 to 13.7 points. In 2024 the county’s top-race figure was 63.5% against the state’s 70.5%, a gap of 7.0 points. Two cautions apply. In 2016 through 2022 the top race (2016, 2018, 2020, 2022) drew 98.6% to 99.3% of the ballots counted, so the starred figures are slightly below full turnout. And the state’s published registration totals differ a little from the end-of-October reports, so a point or so should not be read into the gaps.
The denominator also shifted. Inactive voters made up 1,598 of the 15,846 names on Lee County’s rolls in 2016, about 10%. By 2025 it was 601 of 15,818, about 4%. Counting only active voters, 2025 turnout works out to 42.5% rather than 40.9%, by our calculation from the 2016 and 2025 reports.
How many voted before Election Day
The 2016 through 2022 turnout files list ballots counted at central absentee precincts separately from neighborhood precincts. That line was 756 of 9,484 ballots in 2016 (8.0%) and 470 of 6,895 in 2018 (6.8%). In 2020 it was 3,025 of 10,014 (30.2%), and in 2022 it was 1,037 of 5,746 (18.0%). The department’s 2024 and 2025 results list no such line for Lee County, so the share cannot be worked out for those years.
Precinct by precinct, 2024 and 2025
The state’s files list 16 precincts for Lee County. In the 2024 and 2025 results, those lines add up to the county total, apart from a separate 213-vote provisional line in 2024. The rates below divide each precinct’s top-race votes by its registered voters in that year’s end-of-October report, so they count every ballot in the results except those provisional votes.
| Precinct | Registered, Nov. 2025 | 2024 turnout* | 2025 turnout* |
|---|---|---|---|
| 101 Elydale | 866 | 58.7% | 34.6% |
| 102 Ewing | 918 | 59.4% | 33.2% |
| 103 Rose Hill | 1,579 | 59.4% | 36.5% |
| 201 Blackwater | 310 | 62.8% | 44.5% |
| 202 Flatwoods | 1,143 | 66.1% | 46.9% |
| 203 Jonesville | 2,065 | 65.2% | 46.5% |
| 301 Ben Hur | 1,446 | 67.3% | 47.0% |
| 302 Woodway | 843 | 61.5% | 39.9% |
| 401 Stickleyville | 1,108 | 68.3% | 43.0% |
| 402 Jasper | 553 | 64.2% | 43.4% |
| 403 Seminary | 675 | 70.4% | 49.5% |
| 404 Dryden | 1,290 | 63.5% | 41.9% |
| 501 Saint Charles | 722 | 48.4% | 27.8% |
| 502 Pennington | 1,817 | 55.6% | 36.8% |
| 503 Robbins Chapel | 195 | 56.5% | 37.4% |
| 504 Keokee | 288 | 59.5% | 34.4% |
Seminary posted the highest rate in both years, 70.4% in 2024 and 49.5% in 2025. Saint Charles had the lowest, 48.4% and 27.8%. Every precinct’s rate was lower in 2025 than in 2024.
Why the precinct view starts in 2024
Earlier precinct figures are not a fair comparison. Through 2022, neighborhood precinct counts leave out the central absentee ballots, which were 30% of the county’s 2020 total. Registration by precinct also changed sharply between two monthly reports. Between the department’s Dec. 1, 2022 and Jan. 1, 2023 reports, Ben Hur fell from 1,906 to 1,459 voters and Woodway from 1,219 to 963. Stickleyville rose from 683 to 940, Pennington from 1,554 to 1,776 and Jonesville from 1,833 to 2,035. The county total barely moved, from 15,639 to 15,590. The reports do not say why.
The department adds new November turnout figures to its turnout page only after the election is certified, so Lee County’s 2026 rate will not appear there on Tuesday night.
