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‘Lord of the Rings’ actor Sean Astin campaigns in Richmond for Clinton

Posted at 10:03 AM, Oct 29, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-30 23:49:17-04

RICHMOND, Va. -- Hillary Clinton supporters continue to stump in Virginia, as America enters the homestretch of the Presidential campaign, with just over a week left before election day, and also as polls show Clinton's lead fell dramatically in recent weeks among Commonwealth voters.

At events in Richmond, Charlottesville and Northern Virginia, actor Sean Astin, EMILY’s List founder Ellen Malcolm and Congressman Gerry Connolly will stump for Clinton.

The three Clinton advocates said that "with more people voting in this election than any in history" they will  help Virginia voters to "ensure that they have all the information they need to vote on Election Day."

Compared to 2008 when President Obama was voted in for his first term there are now more than 60,000 new registered voters combined in the City of Richmond, Chesterfield, and Henrico Counties.

A big part of that spike has to do with an increasing population.  However, in Richmond and Chesterfield, there are more people registered to vote per capita than eight years ago.

That number will only increase once final voter registration numbers are tallied.  Well over 20,000 voters registered in just the day and a half extension period, extended after issues kept voters from registering online.

The Clinton team will spend most of Saturday in Northern Virginia, and on Sunday Astin will be in Richmond to visit with local volunteers and staff.

According to the Clinton campaign, Astin will help motivate the Richmond and Henrico offices in their canvass and phone banking efforts, starting Sunday morning.

The actor has been campaigning in other states for Clinton and will be over the next nine days until election.

Just Saturday morning he took to Twitter to share his opinions about FBI Director James Comey's Friday announcement that new emails came to light in a case unrelated to the Clinton case, and that they “appear to be pertinent to the investigation.”

Comey chose in July not to press criminal charges against Clinton, finding no evidence of criminal wrong doing, though he called her email use "careless."

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