Fewer new voters in the NRV than in 2008
Voters will go to the polls for the presidential election on Nov. 6. The Roanoke Times file
Predictions that there would be fewer new voters this year than during the last presidential campaign were borne out this week as New River Valley election officials worked through the final batches of registrations.
All five voter registrars in the region reported fewer new registrations since Aug. 1 than during a similar period in 2008. In all, about two-thirds as many new voters had signed up this year as during the last presidential election cycle.
New forms mailed by Monday’s postal deadline — some posted to the State Board of Elections in Richmond, then forwarded back to the New River Valley — continued to arrive. But registrars said they did not expect this year’s totals to approach those of four years ago.
“We are still processing applications,” Pulaski County Voter Registrar Kathryn Webb said Friday. She had about half the number of new registrations this year that she’d seen in 2008. “That number is going to change but I don’t expect it’s going to change that much.”
“They’ll continue to trickle in. We’ll probably get another shipment next week,” echoed Radford Registrar Tracy Howard, who this year had a little over 80 percent of his 2008 new registration total.
Workers said their offices were busy, but not with new voters.
“We’ve processed a huge number, … but a lot of it’s address changes,” Maureen Walker of the Giles County registrar’s office said.
New River Valley totals from various dates this week were:
- Floyd County: 120 new registrations since Aug. 1 this year, compared to 278 in 2008, Voter Registrar Amy Ingram said.
- Giles County: 114 new registrations, compared to 181 in 2008, Walker said.
- Montgomery County: 5,511 new registrations, compared to about 8,000 in 2008, Voter Registrar Randy Wertz said.
- Pulaski County: 231 new registered voters, compared to 468 in 2008, Webb said.
- Radford: 639 new registrations, compared to 779 in 2008, Howard said. The total might reach 650 when all the registrations arrive, Howard said.
The Roanoke Times | 381-1669
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