Record number of voters
registering in Virginia

By CATHERINE CARLOCK

With Virginia shaping up as an important swing state in the presidential election, more citizens than ever are registering to vote.

As  Monday’s deadline for registration nears, registrars all over the state are feeling the crush of new applicants.  Elections officials had to order 200,000 additional voter registration forms earlier this month because of shortages in some parts of the state.  They  say 250,000 forms usually last an entire year.

Rockbridge County's elections registrar has an example of the Absentee Ballot Application taped to the office wall for confused citizens. (CATHERINE CARLOCK/ Rockbridge Report)

Rockbridge County voter registrar Marilyn Earhart said  she registers new voters almost every day for this election.

Earhart ordered 500 voter registration forms in early August for county citizens.

“There are definitely more than ever,” she said.  “This [election] could top them all.”

“Everything’s picked up… as far as the number of people voting,” said county Assistant Registrar Diane Wade.

Statewide, Virginia registered 49,000 new voters in August, compared to 36,500 in July and 28,000 in June.

Earhart and Wade are registering many people who may  never have voted before.

A voter registration drive at Rockbridge County High School caught most high school students who turned 18, Earhart said.

Other  students in the area also want to make sure their voices are heard.

Lexington City Registrar Carol Rendleman said she usually asks Washington and Lee students who list on-campus dormitories as their residence to think about which location they regard as their true residence. 

“I ask them to determine for themselves whether they think they have left their family home, moved here and established this as their residence,” Rendleman said.

Rendleman said that if a student lists a dorm as her residence and truly feels that Lexington is her home, she allows the student to register using an on-campus address.

“The statement they give me is the statement I accept,” she said.

But some college students have had a more difficult time registering. 

Students at Radford University and Old Dominion University have had trouble registering in the state despite a 1979 Supreme Court case  stating  that college students should have the right to vote where they go to school.

Students at ODU in Norfolk were told by the local registrar that they were not Virginia residents, even though most college students spend about nine months of the year in the states where they attend school.

Radford University students living in nearby Radford have also had difficulty registering with on-campus addresses.  Tracy Howard said it’s his responsibility as Radford City Registrar to make sure people who register are qualified to vote.

Some disgruntled students started the RU Fair Voter Registration Alliance. The group plans to protest outside the Registrar’s office this week.

Local Democratic and Republican committees are trying to register as many people as possible before the deadline. Both parties tout voter registration as the most important item on their  agendas.

“We identify, register, get out the vote,” said Mike Oxford, former chairman of the Lexington Democratic Committee.

Bob James, chairman of Lexington-Rockbridge-Buena Vista Republican Committee, said that local Republicans work on going door to door with signs.

“It’s as much one on one as it is anything,” he said.

Both parties canvass the area and set up phone banks. Because Virginia does not register voters by party, there is no way to discern how voters will cast their ballots until Election Day.

“There are definitely more [voters] than ever,” Earhart said. 

Produced by
Washington and Lee
journalism students.

Lead Supervisors:
Prof. Brian Richardson
Prof. Indira Somani

Editing supervisor:
Prof. Pamela Luecke

Reporting Supervisors:
Prof. Doug Cumming
Prof. Indira Somani

Technical supervisor: Michael Todd