Walker County political organizations register late voters at Fair on the Square

With only one month left before voting polls open for the Nov. 6 presidential election, the Walker County Republicans and Democrats wrangled up last minute voter registrations at Huntsville’s 38th annual Fair on the Square on Saturday.

Following Wednesday’s presidential debate between Republican candidate Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama, the Walker County Republican and Democratic groups publicized their candidates by handing out political stickers and registering last minute voters before the Oct. 9 deadline.

Walker County Republicans Chairman Russell Martinez was pleased with the amount of pedestrians stopping at his booth.

“We’re seeing probably enthusiasm like we saw in 2008 with regard to how people are motivated by the election,” Martinez said. “We encourage people to be registered to vote and to vote, whether it’s early or on Election Day it doesn’t matter we just want people to vote.”

With Republicans representing the majority of voters in Walker County, Martinez and volunteers informed pedestrians by advocating Romney as well as local candidates.

“This booth helps by giving our candidates a place to come in a central location to talk to the general public,” Vice Chair of Walker County Republican Party Tracy Sorensen said. “It allows the party to be able to sort our candidate and hopefully get the community involved and get them out to vote.”
Down the street, Walker County Democratic party representative Cindy Blaylock sat outside her headquarters, 1111 University Ave., registering voters and advertising Obama’s message of moving forward.

After Obama’s sub-par debate performance on Wednesday, Blaylock’s appearance at the fair was crucial to continue publicizing Obama’s platform.

“I was a little disappointed in Obama’s body language,” Blaylock said in regards to Wednesday’s presidential debate. “[We] make a presence on this square that shows that you believe in your political cause, the Democratic cause, which is for the people.”

Blaylock continued to remain optimistic after Wednesday’s debate as she conversed with citizens Saturday morning.

“[I’m here] to show a positive message for all Democrats to be proud that you’re a Democrat and you need to represent your beliefs,” Blaylock said. “Considering that there are about 20,000 people that will come by this booth that shows that the Democrats are thriving in Walker County.”

Although both groups promote different political beliefs, they agree on giving citizens a chance to register to vote and encourage people to make it to the voting booths on Nov. 6. With early voting as a trend for the past couple of elections, both parties are expecting around 10,000 early voters to cast their ballots in Walker County.

“We’ve been registering people all year long,” Blaylock said. “The main thing is go vote. I don’t care what party you are but go vote.”
Martinez agreed with Blaylock, and is hopeful for a high voter turnout this year.

“With the increased attention on the election early voting will continue to be high, we would anticipate that a good percentage of those who are registered to vote will take advantage of the early voting period,” said Martinez.