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Priming voters for Va.primary

Virginia holds its first same-day Democratic-Republican presidential primary since 1988. Though it sounds complicated, it's pretty simple

Date published: 2/9/2008

By RUSTY DENNEN

For weeks now, caucuses and primary elections for the 2008 presidential race in November have been a staple for political junkies.

On Tuesday, it's Virginia's turn in the spotlight as voters go to the polls for the first same-day Democratic and Republican presidential primary in the state since 1988.

While that sounds complicated, it's not, local election officials say.

Spotsylvania Voter Registrar Shirley Boggs says people have to remember one thing.

"When they come in and check in at the poll books, the next question they'll be asked is which ballot they want to vote," she said. Each voter will get either a Republican or Democratic ballot.

Forget about asking for both; that's not allowed.

Still, voter registrars have been answering a lot of questions.

"I think there's some confusion in the primary process in Virginia, because of all the primaries that preceded ours," said Fredericksburg Registrar Juanita Pitchford.

For example, some voters mistakenly thought that Super Tuesday--the primary and caucus elections in 24 states held earlier this week--was their time to head to the polls.

Voter officials reassured them that this coming Tuesday, Feb. 12, is the day.

And some people thought, erroneously, that they had to re-register to vote in the primary, as is the case in some other states.

"We are still being inundated with phone calls from people who are confused" about that, said Susan Pollard, spokeswoman for the state Board of Elections. Since Tuesday, the agency in Richmond received 6,600 calls. It typically gets about 150 calls a day.

No oaths required

Primary voters will not have to swear a loyalty oath to support the eventual nominee of either party.

The Board of Elections in November approved that provision after Republicans requested the loyalty oath to keep Democrats out of their election process. But the state GOP decided not to require it this time around.

Registrars have been busy for weeks helping voters navigate the primary process.

When people call, "We are just affirming that they were registered to vote in Virginia and going over the procedure," Pitchford said.

Another challenge for her office is that many people who live in Spotsylvania and Stafford have Fredericksburg addresses, and some assume they also vote in Fredericksburg.

What is a primary election? It's an election held for the purpose of selecting candidates to be the nominee of a political party. Why do we have primaries in Virginia? It's the process chosen under Virginia law and by the state Democratic and Republican parties. Why can't I vote in both primaries? Virginia is is an open-primary state which means that any qualified voter can vote in either party's primary election. Virginia does not have party registration in its voter registration process. If I vote in a party's primary, will my voter registration records become affiliated with that party? No. It does not affiliate you with either party or hinder choices in future elections. --Source: Virginia Board of Elections. Telephone numbers for area voter registration offices: Caroline--633-9083 Fauquier--347-6972 Fredericksburg--372-1030 King George--775-9186 Louisa--967-3427 Orange--672-5262 Spotsylvania--507-7380 Stafford--658-4000 Westmoreland--493-8898

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Date published: 2/9/2008

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