Published: November 30, 2008 10:47 pm      

Same-day registration unpopular

Betty Riffe views it as a Frankenstein in the making.

And the Raleigh County clerk’s opinion of proposed same-day voter registration appears to be one of universal opposition.

A proposal before a legislative interims panel would allow potential voters to come by Election Day, get registered and promptly mark ballots, all in one convenient trip.

Clerks, however, see a daunting task imposed on a day of already high demands in getting voters in and out of the polls.

“They don’t realize what a monster they’re trying to create,” Riffe said. “They should, with other states trying it and all the problems they’ve had. I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

Riffe says same-day registration would prompt a flood of provisional ballots being processed since there is no quick way to validate a voter’s identification.

“I think they’re just trying to make it too easy,” she said.

Like other clerks, Riffe is willing to bend on registration by allowing it for a specific time during the early voting period, giving her staff ample time to check on residency before Election Day.

“We’re the ones that have to deal with it,” she said. “I think we probably know more about it than they do.”

Greenbrier County Clerk B.J. Livesay isn’t sure just what some legislators have in mind, but agrees the idea is not a sound one.

“It’s tough enough getting ready for an election, much less having to do it all in one day,” he said.

Besides, clerks say, the element of fraud is a real prospect.

“Someone could walk up with some kind of fake ID or something and register,” Livesay said.

“And there’s no way to check it. We always mail a card to them to confirm that address. I think they’re opening the gate too soon.”

Election Day ushers in enough hassles without imposing an added burden of registering voters, he said.

“We’re trying to put out fires at all the precincts when they have problems with machines. This would be just another burden on us to get it done. I don’t know we’d ever do it at the polls.”

Livesay, likewise, has no qualms about allowing registration during the early voting period, provided the shutoff comes in time to verify the qualifications before Election Day.

“That’s an alternative, certainly a much better one than registration the same day,” he added.

Fayette County Clerk Kelvin Holliday doubts that any clerk in the 55 counties would endorse same-day registration.

“You have the potential for fraud,” he said. “Once somebody’s vote is in and counted election night, it’s too late to do do-overs. I think shortening the registration time where it was before to within the 20 days of early voting would be a good compromise solution.”

Holliday said he could support a compromise of registering up to a point in the early voting stanza.

“But I just have some major reservations about Election Day registering because of the fraud element,” he said.

“I think the lines have been really strongly drawn on this issue.”

Summers County Clerk Mary Merritt said her staff is trained to handle voter registration every work day of the year, and this is where that task needs to remain — not shifting it to poll workers.

“That would put added responsibility on the poll worker,” she said.

“How would you know if you went to two or three different precincts that day and tried to register to vote and voted that very day? You may be able to cast three or four votes because they’re not hooked up to any computers. They’re out in the polling places all over the country with just a paper book. They would have no idea who was registered where or whatever precinct they would go to.”

Moreover, her county simply cannot afford to install a computer in every precinct and have a qualified individual on duty in each one, just as is the case at the courthouse, Merritt said.

“We have to see their ID,” she said. “It takes 10 days to verify if they don’t have a good address. I think it would just cause a lot of problems.”

If a few hundred prospective voters appeared Election Day to register, the poll workers would be overwhelmed, she said.

“The poll workers have enough responsibility and they’re not familiar with voter registration. They could let someone sign a form, but for them to get the ID and verify they actually live at that physical location, I think would be impossible for them to do. We wouldn’t be able to have the staff at each of the 15 precincts and be there for that and call back and have someone look at the computer here. They’ve got enough to do at the polls with processing voters.”

— E-mail:

mannix@register-herald.com