RICHMOND, Va. — Though it's not unusual to see an increased number of voters participate in a presidential election, the large amount of VCU students using same-day registration to do so was much more than the polling precinct's chief officer expected.
TriVonda Mines has worked in polling for almost 20 years, serving as chief for some of the largest precincts in the area.
She said Tuesday's turnout for same-day registration and provisional ballots was shocking.
"I’ve always had at least 100 provisional but yesterday I had 600," said Mines describing Tuesday's turnout.
VCU freshman and first-time voter Indira Oneil was one of those who waited in line to cast a provisional ballot after plans to vote in her hometown changed.
"I was supposed to go home to vote but I missed my train yesterday," Oneil said.
With more than 600 students utilizing same-day registration and over 500 requesting a provisional ballot, Mines said it created long lines as many of the students didn't truly understand what it meant to cast their ballot that way.
"I literally had to make room announcements because there were always at least 30- 50 students literally waiting in line," said Mines. "Yesterday showed me that there's been some type of miscommunication somewhere. They don’t know the steps; they shouldn't have waited till they got to me at the precinct to get all this information. Because when you tell them they even have the look like I wish I would’ve known, I would’ve did it earlier."
It’s an increase in engagement political analyst Dr. Bob Holsworth said colleges saw across the country.
"Because we have same-day registration, they're much more, much less likely to go across the city and vote early," he said. " Ultimately, there was probably a lack of preparation or a lack of understanding of how much that was going to occur. So we wound up with some pretty long lines around college campuses here in Virginia and in some other places.”
Mines and Oneil said they hoped both the campus and student community would be better equipped for the next election.
"I think if we knew more about like how to vote and what we needed to do in advance we’d be more prepared," said Oneil.
"Instead of just right before elections, all year, let’s send reminders," Mines said. "I feel like as a community, as a city, as a state, I feel like everybody should incorporate some type of understanding for our youth that are curious."
As a reminder, Mines said if you filed a provisional ballot you must go to the registrar's office to verify your address, and if you plan on voting in next year's gubernatorial race check and update your registration.
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