Roanoke voter registration deadline is here

Roanoke, Virginia – Tuesday is an important deadline for people in Roanoke who want to vote in the November 3 general election.

“We have a lot of applications that are coming in today and of course tomorrow,” Roanoke City Elections Director and General Registrar Andrew Cochran said.

Voter registrations are due by midnight. That includes people who need to update their voter information, such as addresses.

The process is easy; you can go online, or visit places such as post offices, a public library or the registrar’s office and fill out a form in person.

“I think the registration cycle is going very well; we have seen a steady uptick, and over the last week or two especially the numbers are going up very rapidly,” Cochran said.

At the beginning of the year, Roanoke had about 60,000 registered voters. Now there are more than 64,000.

“Compared to 2016 we had about the same number of voters but now 95 percent of our voters are active voters,” Cochran said.

In the last presidential election, only about 85 percent of the registered voters in Roanoke were active.

“That’s great because that is a symptom of voter engagement and shows that the voter engagement level is very high and people are paying attention and they want to stay involved and stay active,” Cochran said.

After registering to vote, people in Roanoke can cast their ballots early or submit their mail-in ballot at the registrar’s ballot drop-off location at 317 Kimball Ave NE.