Nearly 500,000 new commonwealth voters registered this year, according to a Virginia State Board of Elections press release. Even after removing the names of all those who have passed away or moved out of the state, Virginia experienced a net gain of 436,000 new voters since January, according to the press release. This increase in vote registration is the largest surge Virginia has ever experienced in an election, the press release stated.
Of these newly registered voters, Charlottesville was a major source of new registrants in the commonwealth, totalling a record number of 28,651 newly registered voters, Charlottesville General Registrar Sheri Iachetta said. This number is a 34 percent increase from the 2004 presidential election, she noted, adding that there was also a greater number of absentee ballots requested for the upcoming election.
Because Virginia does not register voters by party affiliation, Iachetta said, it is impossible to tell as of yet which candidate Virginia favors in advance of the upcoming election. Though Virginia has tended to vote Republican in the past, the increase of new voters could have an effect on Virginia’s party affiliation and move Virginia into the Blue.
“Virginia could very well go for Obama,” said Dan Keyserling, deputy director of communications for the Center for Politics and former Cavalier Daily executive editor.
Keyserling said Virginia has not voted for a Democratic candidate in a presidential election since 1964, but 2008 could see a different outcome.
Bruce Vlk, deputy director of programs for the Center for Politics, said the commonwealth as a whole will be a highly contested battleground.
Charlottesville itself, however, “will definitely go for Obama,” Keyserling said. “Charlottesville is an unique liberal enclave in an otherwise conservative area.”
The increase of voters registered in the Charlottesville could also lead to an increase in overall voter turnout. Iachetta said she expects an 85 percent turnout in Charlottesville alone, which would be a significant increase from the 2004 voter turnout of 67 percent in the city.
An especially important group of new voters includes University students and other young community members.
“Compared to 2004, the youth vote has been steadily climbing,” Vlk stated. “We do anticipate that the youth vote will be critical in this upcoming election ... and will matter much more than in previous elections.”
Voter turnout for ages 18-21 increased from 29 percent in the 2000 election to 41 percent in 2004, Vlk noted, saying he believes that the national youth vote will top 50 percent of that age bracket in this year’s presidential election. Overall, almost 40 percent of new voters in Virginia are younger than 25 years old, according to a State Board of Elections press release.
To help increase Charlottesville voter turnout, Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris has offered up a friendly wager with long-time Virginia voter turnout leader Falls Church. In the past, Falls Church has led Virginia in voter turnout percentage, with a turnout of 86.2 percent in 2000 and 81 percent in 2004, said Deborah Taylor, Falls Church registrar of voters.
Norris, though, said he is determined to best Fall Church. In that regard, he bet that Charlottesville will have a higher voter turnout this year than Falls Church, a contest both cities formally accepted. Charlottesville has wagered a bust of Thomas Jefferson, which Falls Church plans on putting in the court area of their city hall if they win, Taylor said, while Falls Church has wagered a sapling of their 2008 “Tree of the Year,” the sassafras. Taylor said she is confident Falls Church will keep its top ranking. “We bet we got them beat,” she said.
City Spokesperson Ric Barrick, however, said he believes that there is “intense interest from all levels of the city,” that will help carry Charlottesville record the commonwealth’s highest voter turnout.
Regardless of which city wins, both are expecting large numbers of voters to flood the polls Nov. 4. Because of this, Barrick said, Charlottesville is working to encourage people to carpool or take public transportation to the polling locations. Charlottesville Transit Service buses will run free of charge all day, and every polling location is within a two-block distance of a CTS stop except the Alumni Hall location, Barrick said. He also noted that voters should head to the polls in the mid-morning and mid-afternoon hours, because those are traditionally less busy times.
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