Less than three weeks remain until voters across Owen County will pack polling places and cast ballots in the 2006 elections, making these final weeks prime time for all things political.
Many front yards across Owen County now prominently display signs with candidates’ names, and in some cases pictures, asking for voter support. And members of political parties, along with local candidates, will begin concentrating their last-minute efforts on getting out the vote.
Members of the local Republican Party will make phone calls and put up additional yard signs during these final three weeks, said Mary Lou Morrison, Owen County Republican Party vice chairwoman.
She said party members will call up voters who didn’t vote in recent elections, reminding them of the importance of getting out to the polling places.
Democrats running in local races will ramp up their efforts in individual campaigns. However, Rob Stafford, Owen County Democratic Party chairman, said nothing significant is in the works for a get-out-the-vote effort on the county party level.
“There are no plans for rallies or anything like that,” he said.
Morrison said, like local Democrats, the Republican candidates also do much of the footwork themselves in local races.
“We’ll be emotionally supporting them for sure,” she said. But she added: “They pretty much run their own campaigns.”
The last day for voter registration has passed, but if numbers from past years give any indication, numerous new voters will be making their fist trip to a ballot box in Owen County for the general election.
Records at the Owen County Clerk’s office show 238 people registered to vote between the general elections in 2002 and 2004, an average increase of just over 119 people each year.
And 168 new voters signed up between last November and the May primaries earlier this year.
The number of total voters actually declined from 7,567 during the 2004 election to 7,456 last year, as records were purged for people who died or moved out of state, according to County Clerk Joan Kincaid.
Updated numbers compiled after last Tuesday’s deadline for voter registration will not be available until later this month, Kincaid said.
For those who are voting, The News-Herald will do its part to help readers make well-informed decisions.
We will publish candidate profiles next week of area politicians involved in contested races, and The News-Herald will sponsor a public forum at Owen County High School Thursday, Oct. 26 at 6:30 p.m.

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