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were placed dutifully in front of the county courthouse in Washington, but still the entire scene was subdued.
There’s another wonderful election tradition in Rappahannock, one that doesn’t take place until the polls close. The courthouse becomes an informal election return headquarters for the political junkies from both parties, as well as other interested onlookers.
The group generally waits for the results from the county’s six precincts in the hall outside registrar Ruth Kilby’s office. There are a couple of wooden chairs brought from across the hall in the magistrate’s office, but you’d better get there pretty early to claim one of them.
Most members of the group don’t leave until the last returns are counted. Usually that’s at a reasonable hour, but last year it was after midnight before the race for supervisor from Hampton District was decided.
There are usually Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, people of all political stripes who gather at the courthouse on election night.
But the atmosphere is almost always friendly, even when one candidate is certified as the winner and others become the disappointed losers. People here seem to remember that they are neighbors first and political candidates second. Win or lose, they will see the person who ran against them at the post office or in the bank next week.
This year we didn’t have any local elections on the ballot. I think that’s too bad. The kind of campaign which is waged in this county would have been a refreshing change from the ones we’ve been treated to this fall.
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