About HarrisonburgVOTES
Posted on June 25, 2015
Harrisonburg is a city of contrasts. Old Harrisonburg, as many call it, is the city of fewer than 25,000 that existed 35 years ago in 1980. It is predominantly white, concerned with business and agriculture, small-town in the best and worst senses, and mostly families who have lived in the Valley for several generations. It includes fewer than 9,000 James Madison University students. The 2015 city is estimated at 52,000 people. It includes Old Harrisonburg plus the city that has grown up around it. The three sources of growth are immigration, JMU related growth, and natural growth. The current city includes 20,000 JMU students and one of the most diverse school system in Virginia.
Harrisonburg has the lowest percentage of voting age population (VAP) registered to vote among Virginia localities. Very roughly, about 17,000 people are registered to vote and about 18,000 are voting age and not registered. Many things may account for the disparity. including but not limited to the following:
High percentage of non-citizens
High percentage of college students
Generic apathy or lack of belief that voting that is important
Process barriers including misinformation and improperly filled out forms
The goal of HarrisonburgVOTES will be to overcome these issues and raise the number of registered voters to 25,000.
Contact us at (540) 579-2874, or
HarrisonburgVOTES@gmail.com.