National Voter Registration Day is Tuesday. The intention is to increase voter registration numbers across the country. According to the Daviess County Clerk’s office, voter registration numbers in Daviess County have spiked in recent days.
“I walked into the office this morning and — the computer screen shows you how many have registered to vote — and we’d received 467 voter registration applications overnight,” said Chief Deputy Clerk Richard House.
House said he was shocked at the sudden surge in voter registration numbers and was informed by his staff that Facebook had begun advertising the national event. Though House had seen the ad on Facebook himself, he was still surprised to see those numbers on Friday morning.
Due to its convenience, most of those people registered online, House said.
“It’s become the most popular way to register,” he said. “You can register at the courthouse, at the driver’s license office or the help office — there’s a lot of different options. But it’s really easy to do it online.”
Several of the 467 applications were duplicates, meaning many people had previously registered to vote but renewed to ensure their registration was still active. House said anyone can renew their registry at any time.
“There’s options online that say ‘Renew it,’ or you can check on your registration status,” he said. “Once you register, it pops up on our screen immediately, and we’ll process it in Daviess County.”
Most of Daviess County is registered to vote, House said, adding that is not the reason for low voter turnout.
“We don’t have a registration problem — we have a participation problem,” he said. “As of August, Daviess County had 72,671 people registered. The majority is registered. The problem is, those who register don’t always go to the polls to vote.”
In a presidential election, Daviess County’s voting percentage typically sits in the 60s. For governor elections — such as this year’s — that percentage drops to 35 percent, while city and county elections typically see voting percentages in the 40s.
Even with the high stakes gubernatorial election between incumbent candidate Republican and Democratic candidate Andy Beshear, House said the voter participation still looks grim.
“You don’t see a ton of television ads. There’s not a ton of activity,” he said. “If you drive around, you don’t see a lot of signs in yards. Maybe it’ll get more intense as it gets closer to time to vote.”
Even with an expected low turnout at the polls, voter registration numbers will likely escalate before the Oct. 7 registration deadline takes place.
“Well get a surge right before the election,” House said. “We’ll be running ads in the newspaper and through other media outlets beforehand.”
Those wishing to vote online can do by visiting GoVoteKy.com. A valid social security number, license plate number, current mailing address, email address and political affiliation are asked of those who register, though registered voters can vote for any candidate, regardless of party affiliation, in the upcoming general election.
