by Emily Darrell
Staff Writer

If you wish to vote in Virginia’s Republican presidential primary to be held March 6 and are not registered to vote, the last day to do so is Monday, February 13, said Powhatan County Registrar Inez Poe. 

There will be two candidates on the ballot – former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and Ron Paul, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas’s 14th District. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who won last week’s primary in South Carolina, did not gather enough signatures to appear on Virginia’s ballot.

Both Romney and Paul have sought the Republican nomination in the past. Romney won several primaries and caucuses in the 2008 race before eventually losing the nomination to John McCain. Paul also campaigned for the Republican nomination in 2008 and ran on the Libertarian ticket in the 1988 presidential race.

Romney at first appeared to be the clear front-runner, having captured both the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary.

However, the South Carolina primary – in which Gingrich garnered a whopping 40 percent of votes to Romney’s 27 percent –has long-been thought to be particularly influential, as every candidate who has won the state’s GOP primary since 1980 has gone on to secure the presidential nomination.

Virginia is part of “Super Tuesday,” a day when nine other states – including Alaska, Tennessee, and Ohio – will hold their primaries. Virginia is also an “open primary” state, which means that voters do not need a party affiliation to vote for a partisan candidate.

Absentee voting for the primary has already begun, Poe said. You may vote absentee in the registrar’s office or apply for an absentee ballot by mail.

If you have any questions about or where or when to vote or how to register please contact the registrar’s office at (804) 598-5604.