ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, November 3, 1996 TAG: 9611040075
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS STAFF WRITER
A TALE OF TWO PRECINCTS: Roanoke's Raleigh Court No. 5 usually has the highest voter turnout of any precinct in the Roanoke Valley. Not far away, Highland No.1 usually has the lowest. Why are people in some neighborhoods more likely to do their civic duty than others? Here's a look at what's motivating citizens in these disparate precincts.
ADAM Doherty remembers being awakened on winter mornings by the rasp of metal on concrete. Without climbing out of bed to look out the window, he knew it was snowing and he knew his next-door neighbor was taking care of the situation.
"Every time it snowed, he'd be up at 3 a.m. shoveling snow," Doherty said. "We'd get up at 7 o'clock in the morning, and every single walk would be shoveled. It's a very giving neighborhood."
The goings-on in Doherty's Raleigh Court neighborhood were just as predictable each Election Day as neighbors lined up at Wasena School to cast their votes.
This year, the 18-year-old Doherty will not just vote; he'll also be an election worker, assisting the neighbors who have been his friends and role models.
Doherty will be Roanoke's youngest election worker Tuesday. He's a welcome addition at Raleigh Court's fifth precinct, which already revels in its superlatives. It has one of the longest-serving precinct chiefs. It often is the first to announce its voting returns. And - most important - it has had the highest average turnout in the Roanoke Valley over the past five years.
Raleigh Court No. 5 doesn't always top the turnout list, but it is always at or near the top, competing with nearby Fishburn Park and precincts in South Roanoke and along Williamson Road.
Doherty, a college freshman, didn't vote for the first time until May's City Council elections, but his parents often took him along when he was growing up.
"I was always fascinated with the mechanisms and the buttons," he said.
They showed him the sample ballots and explained who was seeking what office.
"They never specifically told me who they were going to vote for," he said. "I'm sure that's not what you want your kid blabbing around at school."
Doherty's interest in voting makes him different from the majority of teenagers.
"They're like, 'We have a day off from school. The last thing I'm going to do is get up to vote.'''
But he's not your typical Raleigh Court No.5 resident, either, with his ponytail, hoop earring and cowboy boots. Many of his neighbors are retired professionals, managers and salespeople. Most own their homes, valued in 1990 between $60,000 and $95,000.
They are people like 74-year-old Albert MacMackin.
"I've been voting at Wasena School for 46 years," MacMackin said. "I think it's my obligation."
MacMackin first voted by absentee ballot from a ship in the Pacific Ocean during World War II. A 21-year-old Navy sailor, he helped put Franklin Roosevelt in office for a third term.
He kept voting after he left the service.
"I said, 'Well, I gave my country seven of my best years,' and I was going to vote."
MacMackin occasionally reminds his neighbors to vote. Most don't need prompting, but he can remember when a couple of non-voters lived nearby.
"My wife used to get after them," he said.
Penny Roupas, 79, is another Election Day regular. She worked at the polls until she turned 75, the age election workers are required to retire.
"That broke my heart," she said, "but I still go and vote."
The Roupas family has been in Raleigh Court since 1944. Penny's son, Frank, has been precinct chief for 25 years. When asked why turnout is so high, he pointed to the number of older adults and homeowners as well as property values.
"Where real estate taxes are high, you're going to get top-notch people," he said.
People who follow election results say Raleigh Court No.5 is a benchmark precinct. It's conservative, but not so much as South Roanoke. It's the most Republican precinct in Raleigh Court and one of the five most Republican precincts in the city, but it often swings over to the Democratic side.
Bob Firebaugh, a longtime Democratic Party activist who has been following local voting trends since the 1970s, said Raleigh Court No.5 voters stray from the GOP only for specific reasons. They favored John Edwards for state senator because he is a "local boy" from an adjacent voting precinct. But they had helped elect Edwards' opponent, Republican Brandon Bell, two years before when Bell faced a Democrat with no local ties.
Ralph Smith, chairman of Roanoke's Republican Committee, said local candidates such as Newell Falkinburg have viewed the precinct as a key indicator of their success or failure. Falkinburg lost the precinct and the General Assembly election last November.
Because the precinct's vote is so often in sync with state and national results, Smith believes even presidential candidates might learn a lot from watching its returns.
"If Bob Dole doesn't win Raleigh Court, Bob Dole will not be president," he said.
Firebaugh agreed, but said even more indicative may be the city's transitional precincts. Tinker, Monterey and Garden City were once bedrock Democratic precincts, but the Republicans have been making inroads. If Dole can't maintain that trend, he's probably in for a landslide loss, Firebaugh said.
Although Raleigh Court is still considered stable, Doherty said the neighborhood is changing. Some of the older adults who lived there for decades have died. Younger couples are moving in. Doherty paused as he searched for the best word to describe the newcomers.
"Hmm, I guess 'busy,''' he said. "They're always on the go, not around as much."
He hopes the changes won't result in lower turnout in the precinct, but he's doing more than hoping. His presence at Wasena School on Tuesday could be a sign that voting will remain a way of life for another generation in Raleigh Court No. 5.
LENGTH: Long : 117 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON\Staff. Adam Doherty, 18, will becomeby CNBRoanoke's youngest election worker when he helps out at Raleigh
Court's 5th precinct Tuesday. color. Graphic. Chart: Voter turnout.
color. Map: Roanoke City Voting precencts. color. KEYWORDS: POLITICS