Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 8, 1993 TAG: 9310120273
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
According to Montgomery County registrar Sandra Chapin, 28,727 residents registered to vote by the Monday deadline, compared with the 29,347 registered for last year's presidential election.
The 2 percent decline is not unexpected, because state law required that the names of people who have not voted in four years be purged, Chapin said.
The 85 percent voter turnout last year marked a four-year high for Montgomery County.
During the last gubernatorial election, in 1989, turnout was 71 percent, Chapin said.
The total number of registered voters has grown approximately 13 percent since then.
From Jan. 1 to the deadline, 1,557 Montgomery voters registered, many at satellite locations around the county. By comparison, during last year's national campaign more than 5,000 people registered in the last three months before the cutoff.
In Giles County, meanwhile, the total number of registered voters is 9,004, compared with 9,155 last year, according to assistant registrar Donna Altizer.
The 2,911 people registered in Giles' Eastern District will be able to vote in the 12th District House race with 70 percent of Montgomery's voters. The balance of Giles' voters, however, will vote in the 7th District election.
Floyd County has 6,093 people registered to vote and has stayed close to that number for a long time, according to the registrar's office.
The Pulaski registrar's office has not finished compiling its total.
In Radford, 5,497 people are registered to vote, down some 203 from last year's presidential election. However, the office recorded 248 new registrants, said registrar Tracy Howard. Turnout last year was approximately 80 percent and hit 75 percent during the last gubernatorial contest, he said.
Staff writer Paul Dellinger contributed to this report.
by CNB