Mascot has election-year mission

He doesn't leap tall buildings in a single bound, he doesn't haveX-ray vision and he certainly can't shoot laser beams out of hiseyeballs.

But West Virginia has its very own superhero. Kind of.

Captain VIP once existed solely in the imagination of Secretary ofState Betty Ireland. Now the masked crusader has come to life as acomic book-like character that rails against election apathy andpromotes voting.

Ireland's staff bought a $30 Robocop costume on the Internet,revamped it and created the kooky cartoonish guy to be a mascot forthis year's elections, the first in West Virginia since the stateoverhauled its voting system and brought in electronic votingmachines.

The costumed Captain VIP, whose true identity has not beendisclosed, made his premiere last week at the opening game of theWest Virginia Power.

The rather lanky fellow didn't have a lot to say. Secretary ofState officials are hoping his mere presence will help shine a lighton the new way West Virginians cast their votes and might help turnaround dwindling Election Day turnouts even in some of the state'slargest voting districts.

His name, which stands for "Voting is Powerful," serves as a kindof appeal to people who might not have the inclination to show up atthe polls this year, or who might be taken aback by the disappearanceof the state's decades-old punch card ballot system.

"It's just an eye-catching marketing tool to create awarenessamong the public that voting is changing and how important that is,"said Ben Beakes, spokesman for Ireland's office.

Beakes said Ireland came up with the idea for Captain VIP back inthe fall when her office was facing the challenging task of waging asuccessful public relations campaign to promote the new electronicvoting.

The state is required by the end of this year to have its newelectronic voting machines and optical scan ballot counters up andrunning.

State officials say the new equipment will be ready in time forMay's primary election.

The federal government mandated the overhaul in the wake of theballot counting debacle after the 2000 presidential election.

Captain VIP, in his fierce silver and black costume with a ballotbox on his chest, was designed at first to appeal to younger voters,those in their late teens and 20s who represent some of the lowestturnout among those registered. The changes at the polls, however,had raised some concerns that veteran voters might reject the newstyle of selecting candidates, and Captain VIP has been aimed toreach a wider audience of young and older voters.

In addition to the live-action version that will make anappearance at public events and voter rallies, Captain VIP's imagehas been painted on the vans that the Secretary of State's officeuses to deliver the new voting machines out to the counties. There'sa cardboard cutout of the superhero standing watch in the entry ofIreland's office in the Capitol. His picture also is printed on allof the voting literature that's distributed to the masses.

"We thought what better tool to use to get the message out toeverybody," Beakes said. "It's eye-catching, it's different and it'srecognizable."

Contact writer Kris Wise at kriswise@dailymail.com or 348-1244.