ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, August 13, 1996 TAG: 9608130097
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
Nearly 283,000 Virginians might be improperly registered to vote because their addresses have changed, and sorting out the differences could mean long lines at the polls this fall, election officials say.
``It's going to complicate the situation at the polls, and it's going to slow down the voting,'' said Lawrence Haake, general registrar of Chesterfield County.
The State Board of Elections has started sending address confirmation notices to voters whose address doesn't match the address listed on the U.S. Postal Service's National Change of Address list.
Bruce Meadows, secretary of the board, said the 1993 motor-voter law requires that the address comparison be done each year.
This is the first year Virginia has followed the procedure because the federal law took effect in the state on March6.
Each voter whose address doesn't match the national list is considered inactive. Voters who receive notices are asked to mail back a card as soon as possible confirming their current address so registrars can determine the proper voting precinct, Meadows said.
Already, some people have been confused by the notices. Many local registrars said they started getting questions early last week.
Registrars said they're worried they won't be able to absorb the extra workload and cost of handling the confirmation notices, which must be processed and logged into the state computer system.
``I have over 12,000 voters declared inactive,'' Haake said, ``and with the resources I have, I figure it will take me close to two years to deal with that ... If we get 12,000 cards in here, I'm sure we're not going to be able to update the state computer in time for the election.''
Haake has only two full-time and five part-time workers.
Registrars also are worried that since this is a presidential election year with a Senate race and five state constitutional amendments, the complicated ballot combined with the inactive status matter could result in long waits.
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines Type first letter of feature OR type help for list of commands FIND S-DB DB OPT SS WRD QUIT QUIT Save options? YES NO GROUP YOU'VE SELECTED: QUIT YES login: cby CNB