Forgive Lunenburg County Registrar Carolyn Parsons if she is just a little too busy to chat right now.

Election time is her busy season, and it’s gotten busier.

Gone are the voting machines with which a voter was cast with just a push. Paper ballots are back as part of the process — and Parsons’ office is preparing eight different style ballots for the county. Each of the four school board districts will get their own ballot; so does the parts of the county that are in the sprawling 75th House of Delegates district represented by Democrat Roslyn Tyler.

Earlier this year, the State Board of Elections banished the house of electronic voting machines over concern about the “integrity of the election process” in the state.

That means in Buckingham County, Register Margaret Thomas has eight different ballots to prepare, too.

For the registrars it may mean more work, but Thomas said it benefits the public and the election process. “It’s just easier, very safe, open, honest and fair and easier for voters to vote,” Thomas said.