2009.11.03
Botetourt County voters on track for 55 percent turnout
With a steady stream of voters arriving at the polls today, Phyllis Booze, Botetourt County's registrar of voters, says she already anticipates voter turnout this election could eclipse that of the gubernatorial election of 2005.
As of 10 a.m., she said, more than 16 percent of county voters had cast a ballot, which puts Botetourt County on target for a 55 percent turnout rate. In 2005, when Tim Kaine ran against Republican rival Jerry Kilgore, turnout was 49 percent.
But a more telling sign that this year's election is garnering more interest is the number of absentee ballots received so far, Booze said. The county received more than 550 absentee ballots this year, she said, far more than in 2005.
-- Rex Bowman
