Mobile voter outreach first in Hampton Roads
Published 9:52 pm Wednesday, August 20, 2014
![Stacey Folsom with the Voter Registrar’s Office creates a voter identification card with a photo for Betty Ann Campbell during a photo ID outreach at Lake Prince Woods on Wednesday.](https://www.suffolknewsherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2014/08/IMG_7173.jpg)
Stacey Folsom with the Voter Registrar’s Office creates a voter identification card with a photo for Betty Ann Campbell during a photo ID outreach at Lake Prince Woods on Wednesday.
The first photo ID outreach for voters in Hampton Roads brought in a total that surpassed other Virginia localities for the one-day record, Virginia Department of Elections officials said.
About 21 people came to the outreach at Lake Prince Woods on Wednesday to have their photo taken and sign a signature pad for a new voter ID card with a photo on it. The cards will help voters who don’t have another photo ID, such as a driver’s license, to show at the polls this November in compliance with a new law requiring voters to show photo identification.
The total surpassed the 20 done in one day by a recent Roanoke outreach, said Cameron Sasnett, project support specialist for the Virginia Department of Elections.
Cards will be mailed to voters who completed the process, voter registrar Susan Saunders said. She was pleased with the turnout.
Beverly Outlaw, a member of the city’s electoral board, said the board has decided to do the outreach at least one more time at a different site.
“We will be working with local leaders to help us decide the time and place,” she said.
Many of the participants on Wednesday were Lake Prince Woods residents.
“I’m going to use mine to show other people what you get,” said Betty Ann Campbell, who is an election official at the King’s Fork precinct. “I’m in charge here at Lake Prince Woods of getting our residents interested in voting.”
Sasnett, from the state department of elections, said outreach is important for a new law that affects all voters.
“The more outreach that’s done, the more access there is,” he said.
Folks who still need a photo ID to vote can obtain one at the Suffolk Registrar’s Office, 440 Market St., during normal business hours.
Call 514-7750 for more information.