THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, November 7, 1995              TAG: 9511070266
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY KATE HUNGER, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   45 lines

MORE ABSENTEE VOTERS INTERESTED IN THIS ELECTION

If absentee voting is an indicator, Hampton Roads is paying more attention to today's election than it did to the one in 1991, the last time the state legislature led the ballots.

``There was a lot of complacency then,'' Norfolk's registrar, Ann Washington, said. ``Now that the Assembly is so close to a Republican majority, I think that has generated a lot of activity.''

All South Hampton Roads cities saw an increase in absentee voting from 1991, the last general election that did not feature a national or statewide race.

In Norfolk, 1,027 absentee ballots were issued, and 842 were turned in by Monday afternoon - nearly double the total of 436 absentee votes cast in 1991.

Virginia Beach issued 1,426 absentee ballots by the deadline on Saturday and has received 1,130 back. That's up from the 979 absentee votes in 1991.

In Portsmouth, registrar Dolores Overton said 630 absentee voters returned ballots this year - a huge jump from the 161 returned in 1991, when the city had no contested House of Delegates races.

Although the absentee vote is higher than in 1991, it is down when measured against elections in 1992, 1993 and 1994, the registrars said.

The election in 1992 involved a presidential race; the one in 1993 featured races for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general; and last year's included the highly publicized U.S. Senate race between incumbent Charles S. Robb and challenger Oliver L. North.

Chesapeake assistant registrar Ruth Mangone said she is pleased with Chesapeake's absentee voting. As of Monday afternoon, 555 of the 750 ballots issued had been returned.

Suffolk registrar Patsy Bremer said 333 absentee ballots were issued in Suffolk, and 286 had been returned by Monday afternoon.

Absentee voting figures from 1991 were unavailable for Chesapeake and Suffolk.

KEYWORDS: VOTING ELECTION ABSENTEE VOTING by CNB