Voting group targets single Virginia women

After being warned by the State Board of Elections to follow the law, a women’s group has launched a drive in Virginia to register unmarried women to vote.

Nancy Rodrigues, secretary of the State Board of Elections, said yesterday that Women’s Voices, Women Vote has assured the elections board that it would properly identify itself when it sends out voter registration forms.

In early February, the State Board asked the Virginia State Police to investigate complaints from registrars in 13 localities that an organization was leaving automated calls at households without identifying itself.

“We were worried about identify theft,“ Rodrigues said.

The state police quickly determined that the phone calls and registration packets mailed to homes originated from the nonpartisan Washington-based advocacy group.

The state police also determined that the registration packets and return prepaid envelopes addressed to the State Board of Elections complied with the law and no identity theft had occurred, Rodrigues said.

At the time, the group was targeting 228,000 unmarried women in Virginia. According to a news release issued by Women’s Voices, Women Vote, the organization has generated more than 20,000 registration applications.

The current drive is soliciting 374,806 unmarried women in Virginia. Of those, the group expects to register more than 7,300.

The group said it has notified the State Board of Elections that it is conducting the drive and to expect an increased number of registration forms.

“WVWV will continue to work with election officials . . . ,“ the news release stated.

About 1.2 million women in Virginia are single, separated, divorced or widowed, the group said. In 2006, about 522,000 unmarried women in Virginia had not registered. About 286,000 were registered but did not vote.

Rodrigues said a number of voter registration drives are being conducted across the state.

Contact Tyler Whitley at (804) 649-6780 or .