By Maya Lora
LEXINGTON, Va. — Around 35 to 40 percent more Rockbridge County voters are requesting absentee ballots this year than in 2014, the previous congressional midterm election cycle.
Marilyn Earhart, the county’s voter registrar, said she has never seen numbers this high for a midterm election in her 13 years overseeing local elections.
“It’s not as high as the presidential [years] but it’s plenty busy,” Earhart said. “[There’s] just a lot of interest, a lot of excitement I see in the voters when they’re coming in.”
Locally, as of Tuesday, 14,651 people had registered to vote in Rockbridge County.
According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, voter enthusiasm has hit a record high for the Nov. 6 election. The survey found that 72 percent of voters say that determining which party will control Congress will factor into their vote.
By most measures, the Democrats are the favored party to take the House and Republicans are likely to keep the Senate. Many see the makeup of Congress directly relating to the success or checking of President Donald Trump’s agenda during the remaining two years of his first term. Voters are taking that into consideration, with 60 percent saying their midterm vote expresses their approval or disapproval of Trump.
Earhart hopes climbing numbers will translate into high turnout on Election Day for the sake of the poll workers, who will arrive at their polling location at 5 a.m. a week from next Tuesday.
“Thirteen hours is a long day to be there, so it makes the day go faster for them if they’re busy,” Earhart said. “So we’re hoping for a big turnout.”
The Rockbridge County Democratic Committee, chaired by Michelle Watkins, has been conducting get-out-the-vote efforts to encourage voter engagement in the election.
“We need to remind everybody every voice counts, every vote counts,” Watkins said.
Watkins said when she visited polling locations in 2016 to ask how to get people involved in elections, she was told that the best way to reach them is through front-page information in the newspaper and face-to-face events. She was advised against using social media and “robocalls.”
A community organization created to oppose the Trump agenda, 50 Ways Rockbridge, is collaborating with the Democratic Committee to canvass the area. Volunteers with the group register people to vote regardless of party but also advocate for Democratic candidates, said Professor Ellen Mayock, professor of Spanish at Washington and Lee University and 50 Ways Rockbridge board member.
The chairman of the Rockbridge Area Republican Committee, Doug Smith, was unable to grant an interview about his party’s get-out-the-vote efforts, he said in an email, because of a scheduling conflict. But he thanked the other party for spurring Republicans to vote.
“As for getting out the vote for our Republican candidates, the Democrat Party is our most helpful ally, both in D.C. and locally,” Smith wrote in an email. “No one manages to do it better than they! Makes my job easier.”
As of Tuesday, there were 4,019 registered voters in Lexington, which oversees local elections with only one polling place for on-site voting, the Rockbridge Area Relief Association building on Spotswood Drive.
Jan Yowell, the director of elections and general registrar for Lexington, said she has requested enough ballots to cover 80 percent of eligible voters. Yowell said surrounding localities were planning to order that many ballots, so she followed suit.
“It’s much better to spend the money than to run out of ballots,” Yowell said. “A locality never wants to run out of ballots. Never, never, never.”
The deadline to register in Virginia was Oct. 15. Yowell said that she stayed two and a half hours past her usual time that day to accommodate 57 new registrations. She said she usually gets only three or four people a day in her office.
She said she can only surmise, but voter enthusiasm seems to express the feelings people have about what’s happening in Congress and in state government. “People want change,” Yowell said.
What’s on the ballots
Rockbridge County voters have three main issues on the ballot.
Republican Corey Stewart, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Libertarian Matt Waters are in a three-way race for the U.S. Senate seat.
Del. Ben Cline (R-24th State House Dist.) and Democrat Jennifer Lewis are running to represent the sixth Congressional District and replace Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.).
Two amendments to the Virginia Constitution are on the ballot, which would both grant tax exemptions. One is for those who live in flood prone areas but have made improvements to address flooding risks and the other for spouses of 100 percent-disabled veterans who want to move to a different property but keep the existing tax exemption.
There are additional races within Rockbridge County. Walkers Creek voters will vote in an uncontested school board election, Goshen voters will vote in races for mayor and Town Council, both uncontested, and Glasgow voters will choose between four candidates for three Town Council seats. The candidates in Glasgow are Aaron Wilson Britton, Andy Ryan, Barrett McFaddin and Sonny Williams, who currently serves on the council.
Meanwhile, Lexington is bristling with lawn signs for the four candidates competing for three seats on City Council. Incumbents David Sigler and Chuck Smith are running against challengers Dennis Ayers and Molly McCluer.
Absentee ballots in person must be completed by Saturday. Mail ballots are due Tuesday. Photo ID’s are required.
Key deadlines for voting
Voting registrars are now dealing with absentee ballots. Those who wish to do an absentee ballot in person have until Nov. 3, a Saturday, to cast their vote at their respective registrar offices. Those who wish to mail in their ballot or deliver it in person have until 7 p.m. on Nov. 6, when regular voting polls close.
There are two classifications of voters – active and inactive. In Rockbridge County, voters are shifted from “active” to “inactive” if, for two years, they do not vote or respond for to materials sent by the registrar. If after being classified as inactive a voter cannot be reached for another two years, that voter is purged from the voting rolls.
Lexington does it a little differently. Voters are purged after not voting in two consecutive presidential elections.
When voters go to the polls, they need to show a photo ID, including options such as a U.S. passport, a Virginia driver’s license or a university ID within the state that includes a photo.
If voters do not have a photo ID, they can have one made at the registrar.
“It’s a simple process,” Earhart said. “It takes probably about five minutes.”
A voter who forgets to bring an ID can fill out an ID provisional ballot. Such a voter has until noon on Friday, Nov. 9, to bring an ID in to have the vote counted.
Once voters show their ID and confirm their name and address with a poll worker and the polling book, they fill out a paper ballot in a voting booth, put that ballot through the scanner and await the appearance of the American flag that confirms their vote was counted.
| Ballots, poll books, photo identification then voting booths … Earhart details what voters can expect on next Tuesday at the polls. |
In both the county and Lexington, absentee ballots are handled separately at a Central Absentee Precinct. Poll workers print the voting totals once the polls close at around 7 p.m. and call them into the registrar, where employees insert the numbers into the state board’s website.
| Wonder what happens after you submit your absentee ballot? Earhart talks about the journey an absentee ballot takes once it leaves your hands. |
Rockbridge County switched from electronic to paper ballots for the 2016 election and Lexington switched in June 2017.
Earhart said that the county is not concerned about election hacking because the machines are completely disconnected from the internet and held tightly under her watch.
“No one has access to voting equipment except me,” Earhart said. “I have the key and no one else can get to it.”
For some people, the real draw is the “I Voted” sticker.