Voting creates traffic problems in Blacksburg

At 12 p.m. the line at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Blacksburg was out the door and almost wrapped around the building.

WSLS: How long have you been waiting? “Just 15 minutes,“ responded Virginia Tech Freshman Nicholas Sharp.

Time seemed to be on everyone’s side who was waiting in line this afternoon, but parking was a different story.

There’s simply not enough for the 5,000 plus people registered to vote at the church…forcing many to park on the side of the road or down the road.
   
Registrar Randy Wertz says state law generally calls for precincts to be split once the number of registered voters reaches 4,000, but a late rush of registrations among students flooded the little precinct.
   
However, Wertz said, even if he had wanted to, he couldn’t have created another precinct: The General Assembly earlier this year agreed that no new precincts would be created in the state until after the 2010 census.

The county did set up a shuttle service from Kipps Elementary School to St. Michaels to help out with parking problems, but many chose to tough it out.
 
Across town at the Blacksburg Library there was no crowd….just a small handful of voters.

WSLS: How many people have come in this morning?
Poll Worker Carol Marchal: “Just at this table 503 people.“
WSLS: Wow, is that more than usually?
Marchal: “Much more than usual.“

“We’ve had alternating long lines and no lines,“ added Poll Worker Robert Sebek.