Liz Kirchner
communitynews@ourvalley.org
Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 7. Polls are open from 6 a.m.- 7 p.m. Voters who will not be able to get to the polls on election day may vote in the Registrar’s Office until Saturday Nov. 4th at 619 2nd Street Radford, VA 24141.
While there are many provisions to help people vote, being registered to vote, and bringing a photo ID to your correct polling place is key to uneventful, successful voting.
“All the provisions are very avoidable at this point by making sure your registration is up to date,” Tracy Howard, the General Registrar, the Director of Elections for the City of Radford said.
The deadline to request an absentee ballot to be mailed to you is October 31s, and, while the deadline for Voter Registration and changes of address has passed, the Registrar’s Office has additional Saturday hours for in-person absentee voting Oct. 28th, 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. and November 4th, 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Radford has a good voter participation record.
“We have a total of 9578 voters registered.” The last general election was the Presidential election, which turned out 67% . Generally, governor’s races turn out about 55% in Radford.
On November 7th, 2017, the General Election will elect
• Governor,
• Lt. Governor,
• Attorney General,
• House of Delegates
and Radford’s Constitutional Offices of
• Commissioner of Revenue,
• Commonwealth’s Attorney,
• Sheriff
• Treasurer
Virginia law requires everyone to show one photo identification card to vote in person. If you don’t have an ID, go the Radford City Registrars Office to get a free Voter Photo ID, even on Election Day, Nov. 7.
Many types of photo ID are acceptable for voting in Virginia. You only need to show one acceptable photo ID to vote. Photo IDs can be used to vote up to one year after the ID itself has expired.
Acceptable forms of valid identification:
• Virginia driver’s license
• Virginia DMV-issued photo ID
• United States passport
• Employer-issued photo ID
• Student photo ID issued by a school, college, or university located in Virginia
• Other U.S. or Virginia government-issued photo ID
• Tribal enrollment or other tribal photo ID
• Virginia Voter Photo ID card
If you get to your polling place and have forgotten to bring an acceptable photo ID, you can vote with a provisional ballot, but that’s not the best way to do it, and very avoidable.
“An individual may bring photo ID until the third day after the election. But Friday, Nov 10, is a holiday this year, so that deadline is moved to Monday at noon. But it’s best to avoid that. Bring your ID.” Howard said, “But what ends up happening is, the news calls the elections and when it’s obvious a provisional ballot doesn’t matter, the provisional ballots aren’t counted.”
With questions, contact the Registrar’s Office at 619 2nd Street Radford, VA 24141., their phone is 540-731-3639 or visit www.radfordva.gov/252/Director-of-Elections
