THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 2, 1994 TAG: 9409300243
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KIRSTEN SORTON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 108 lines
There are no excuses left for not registering to vote in Virginia Beach.
With more than 100 voter registration sites located all over town, it's difficult not to bump into one. All city schools and branch libraries have permanent registration facilities and temporary booths are set up periodically at stores, malls and nursing homes.
Even Tidewater Community College has taken part in educating the electorate.
A booth was set up recently in the Beach campus' cafeteria where students walked to classes or to the food lines. Luis Rivera, a 19-year-old student who stopped to register, said he was pleased with the location.
``I wouldn't have found one otherwise,'' Rivera said.
James Stephens, a pre-nursing student, also stopped. Stephens, 43, who had moved recently, needed to change his address.
``It saves me from going to a remote place,'' he said.
Easy access is one of Voter Registrar Marlene Hager's top goals. Since taking office 12 years ago, Hager has about doubled the city's number of registered voters.
``We basically have a site anywhere in Virginia Beach where people can walk to. We don't want people to have to go large distances to register,'' Hager said.
``We are trying to provide customer service to our citizens in the area of voter registration and in the course of doing that we are trying to integrate services. We train various other city agencies and ourselves for kind of a one-stop shopping opportunity for our customers.'
Earlier this year, Hager added six new permanent locations where citizens can do that: the local libraries. Some libraries have offered voter registration service before, but now all the branches can register voters year-round. The only exception is the Central Library, which will have registration drives at various times in the year due to the lack of personnel.
At the Oceanfront Library, a brown plaque behind the information desk advertises: ``Register to vote here.'' Elaine Kerry, an information specialist, stands behind the checkout desk helping people with fines or books. She said that most people who register come to the library to check out a few books and discover they can register, too.
``They see the sign inside and ask if they can do it. They are surprised how easy it is,'' Kerry said.
The Oceanfront Library was the first to become a permanent registration site. It has registered 230 new voters since June.
``We are very happy to have our libraries as voter registration sites because the libraries are always extremely productive. In fact, our all-time high in a single day, which was over 600 people came from a library,'' Hager said.
Another factor that should increase the number of registered voters is a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow Virginia voters to register by mail. It will be on the Nov. 8 ballot.
``Most experts are saying that Virginia Beach may add as many as 60,000 to 80,000 extra voters when that act comes in,'' Hager said.
As of June, Virginia Beach had 158,500 registered voters - or an average of about one voter per household. That includes 9,822 new voters who have registered since the last general election in November.
Although voter registration is growing, voter turnout is fluctuating. Only 56 percent of the registered voters turned out in November 1993 while 90 percent turned out for the '92 presidential election. In the last local election in May, only 28 percent of the registered voters participated. Hager said that the lack of turnout was not unusual.
``The turnout naturally drops. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with that there is so much less information on the candidates and the issues for local elections compared to gubernatorial and presidential elections,'' Hager said.
Hager is hoping to increase voter turnout by supplying sample ballots at schools, libraries and other registration sites. She's also distributing a pamphlet explaining proposed constitutional amendments.
``I think that one of the keys to getting people out to vote is that they don't have road blocks in their way,'' Hager said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by KIRSTEN SORTON
Pat Watson, a volunteer, registers James Stephens to vote in the
cafeteria at Tidewater Community College in Virginia Beach. ``It
saves me from going to a remote place,'' said Stephens, a
pre-nursing student at the college.
VOTER DEADLINES
Oct. 11 is the last day to register to vote in the Nov. 8
election. Absentee ballots sent by mail must be received by Nov. 5,
and absentee ballots can be delivered in person at the registrar's
office until that date. Polls for the general election Nov. 8 will
be open from 6 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. If you have any questions, call
the voter registrar at 427-8683.
CHANGES IN POLLING PLACES
SIGMA: Voters in the Sigma precinct have a new polling place at
Tabernacle United Methodist Church, 1265 Sandbridge Road. The old
location was at the Sandbridge Fire Station.
DAVIS CORNER: This precinct has been split into the Davis Corner
precinct and Baker precinct. The Davis Corner polling place remains
at Bettie F. Williams Elementary School, 892 Newtown Road. The
Baker polling place will be at Heritage United Methodist Church, 715
Baker Road.
COURTHOUSE: The precinct has been split into the Courthouse
precinct and Landstown precinct. The Courthouse polling place
remains at the Courthouse Fire Station, 2461 Princess Anne Road.
The Landstown polling place will be at Landstown Community Church,
3220 Monet Drive.
KEYWORDS: POLLING PLACES VOTER REGISTRATION by CNB