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Registrations are up overall across age, race, gender and party affiliation, and even though the traditional registration period closes Friday, observers believe the numbers will continue to surge as voters take advantage of the North Carolina's new same-day registration law.
Valley no exception
From Jan. 1 to March 31, 373 people registered in Northampton County.
“They've been pouring in like crazy,” said Susie Squire, Northampton County elections supervisor, adding that she expects to see more today and Friday.
Jacqueline Taylor, director of the Halifax County Board of Elections, said about 901 people registered there from Jan. 1 to March 31, which is an increase from the numbers she usually sees. Taylor said quite a few people participated in voter registration drives and the “Women's Voices. Women Vote” project.
The Halifax County Board of Elections has processed 94 additional applications since April 1, and there are still more to be processed - not to mention those they will most likely receive at the last minute.
The traditional deadline to register to vote in the primary is Friday at 5 p.m. However, the new same-day registration law will allow voters to register and vote on the same day during early voting - April 17 through May 3.
Around the state
“This year the election is so different, and so many people are excited about it,” said Tahvyea Rains, 26, of Durham, who didn't vote four years ago because she didn't feel like there was a candidate for her. This year, she's backing Democratic presidential candidate and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.
More than 45,000 blacks signed up to vote in the first three months of 2008, compared with just over 11,000 in the first three months of 2004. There were about 106,000 white voter registrations between Jan. 1 and March 31, compared with 47,000 four years ago.
Clyde Frazier, a professor of political science at Meredith College in Raleigh, said the larger jump in black registrations likely indicates growing support for Obama, who has won a string of Southern states with large numbers of black voters.
Blacks have historically accounted for about one-third of voters in North Carolina's Democratic primary.
“I think everybody's expecting it to be higher than that this year,” Frazier said.
More of the new voters registered as Democrats, with the number nearly tripling from 2004 to 74,590. Republican registrations more than doubled to 41,301, while more than 49,558 unaffiliated voters signed up, compared with just 16,858 in the first three months of 2004.
Not only have voter rolls reached record levels, but the state expects a record turnout in May. Johnnie McLean, deputy director of the state Board of Elections, said North Carolina's primary has historically had a turnout ranging from 16 to 31 percent. She said Wednesday the state expects turnout to exceed 50 percent this year.
“We are stressing to the county boards of elections that they need to be prepared for a larger turnout,” she said.
There were less than 5.1 million people registered to vote in May 2004, compared with more than 5.7 million today. The Democratic presidential race was over early by comparison to this year, with North Carolina Sen. John Edwards bowing out to Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts after the March 2 Super Tuesday elections.
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