Just over 300 requests for absentee ballots in the June 9 primary elections have been received in Lynchburg, according to Registrar Patricia Bower.
Today is the deadline for requesting a mailed absentee ballot.
About 130 requests have come from Liberty University dormitory residents who wanted ballots mailed to their out-of-town homes so they can vote in the Republican primary to pick a House of Delegates candidate, Bower said.
Jeff Helgeson and Scott Garrett are the Republican candidates in District 23, which includes Lynchburg and Madison Heights. Both are members of Lynchburg City Council.
On the Democratic ticket for governor are Creigh Deeds, Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran. Democrats also are choosing a lieutenant governor candidate, picking Michael Signer or Jody Wagner. Jon Bowerbank’s name also will appear on the ballot, but he withdrew from the lieutenant governor race May 15 and endorsed Wagner.
The 310 applications received as of Monday indicated lower interest in next Tuesday’s primaries than existed for the gubernatorial primary elections four years ago when about 500 absentee ballots were requested, Bower said.
Both Democrats and Republicans had gubernatorial candidates in 2005, when Jerry Kilgore won the GOP nomination and Timothy M. Kaine received the Democratic nod. Kaine then won the general election.
Of the 310 absentee requests this year, about two-thirds want to vote in the Republican primary, Bower said.
The 2005 primaries brought out 19 percent of Lynchburg’s registered voters, Bower said.
If that turnout is to be duplicated this year, about 9,000 votes will be cast.
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