Newport News’ 74,958 registered voters is the largest turnout ever recorded in the city, says registrar Mary Doxey.
”This is the busiest we’ve been since the 1988 presidential election, where 69,000 voters were registered,” she says.
”All of the new registrations plus 2,000 absentee voter forms had to be processed through this office by the close of business on Oct. 14. It has been quite an active month.
Vicki VanNoy, assistant registrar, says the staff – three full-time and two part-time employees – was overwhelmed when it first saw the boxes loaded with the thousands of cards of newly registered voters that had to be processed into the computer.
On Oct. 3 alone, the last day of registration, 1,844 residents took the oath.
”We are thankful that we had help from the staff at each of the city libraries, where people can go to register if they can’t get downtown to city hall,” says Doxey. By law, the library staff had to be deputized before they could act as registrars.
”We were busy, but it gave us a real good feeling to help out this way … to help register new voters,” says Deedy Lawson, librarian for the Grissom Branch Library, which registered new voters.
”It is a long way for people to go downtown to register, so it was nice to have this service to offer them,” adds Lawson. ”We registered so many people that we were always running out of forms and had to call in for more. I do not have the exact number of forms we processed.”
Neither Lawson nor the registrar’s office could provide the exact number of voters who registered at Grissom on Oct. 3, but VanNoy says it was well above the 1,000 people registered at Grissom Library on the last registration day before the 1988 presidential election.
”The library also gained during the voter registration period, because a lot of the new voters got to see what we have here and signed up for library membership cards,” adds Lawson.
Timothy Heigh, branch supervisor at the Main Street Library, says there was a steady stream of people coming in to register to vote before the Oct. 3 deadline. ”We registered over 1,000 people in the last two days. It was our pleasure,” says Heigh, adding that people can still register to vote throughout the year at the libraries.
”The city has made a commitment to make it as convenient as possible for people to register. They don’t have to travel long distances to fill out the forms to vote, but can come to the nearest library during its hours of operation. Some branches are opened three or four nights a week during certain seasons of the year.”
BALLOT BASICS
The polls will be open from 6 am. to 7 p.m. on election day, Nov. 3, 1992.
Here is what the 74,958 Newport News voters will find on the ballot:
Democratic Party:
Bill Clinton, president and Al Gore, vice president
Republican Party:
George Bush, president and Dan Quayle, vice president
Independent:
Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr., president and James L. Bevel, vice president
Independent:
Lenora B. Fulani, president and Maria Elizabeth Munoz, vice president
Independent:
H. Ross Perot, president and James B. Stockdale, vice president
Libertarian Party:
Andre Marrou, president and Nancy Lord, vice president
Member, House of Representatives, 1st District
Andrew H. ”Andy” Fox
Herbert H. ”Herb” Bateman
Donald L. Macleay Jr.
Member, House of Representatives, 3rd District
Daniel ”Dan” Jenkins
Bobby Scott
Proposed Constitutional Amendment
* Question. Shall the Constitution of Virginia be amended to create a Revenue Stabilization Fund? The fund would accumulate money in years when revenues grow at above-average rates and could be appropriated in years when revenues fall short of forecasts.
Proposed Bond Issues
* Question 1. Shall Chapters 781 and 789, Acts of the General Assembly of 1992, authorizing the issuance of general obligation bonds of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the maximum amount of $95,365,000 pursuant to Article X, Section 9 (b) of the Constitution of Virginia for capital projects for Park and Recreational Facilities, take effect?
* Question 2. Shall Chapters 849 and 892, Acts of the General Assembly of 1992, authorizing the issuance of general obligation bonds of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the maximum amount of $45,173,000 pursuant to Article X, Section 9 (b) of the Constitution of Virginia for capital projects for Mental Health Facilities, take effect?
* Question 3. Shall Chapters 894 and 896, Acts of the General Assembly of 1992, authorizing the issuance of general obligation bonds of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the maximum amount of $472,406,000 pursuant to Article X, Section 9 (b) of the Constitution of Virginia for capital projects for Educational Institutions, take effect?
Election of School Board
Question: Shall the method of selecting the school board be changed from appointment by the city council to direct election by the voters?
