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maleficent · 09-28-2004, 05:18 AM

Flood of New US Voters

Flood of new US voters sign up
By Robert Tanner in New York
September 28, 2004
NEW US voters are flooding local election offices with paperwork, registering in significantly higher numbers than four years ago as interest in the presidential election runs high and an array of activist groups recruit would-be voters who could prove critical come November 2.

Cleveland has seen nearly twice as many new voters register so far as compared with 2000; Philadelphia is having its biggest boom in new voters in 20 years; and counties are bringing in temporary workers and employees from other agencies to help process all the new registration forms.

Nationwide figures aren't yet available, but anecdotal evidence shows an upswing in many places, often urban but some rural.

Some wonder whether the new voters - some of whom sign up at the insistence of workers paid by get-out-the-vote organisations - will actually make it to the polls on Election Day, but few dispute the registration boom.

"We're swamped," said Bob Lee, who oversees voter registration in Philadelphia. "It seems like everybody and their little group is out there trying to register people."

Some examples, from interviews with state and county officials across the country:

- New registered voters in Miami-Dade County, a crucial Florida county in 2000, grew by 65 per cent through mid-September, compared with 2000.

- New registered voters jumped nearly 150 per cent in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) in Ohio, one of the most hard-fought states this year.

And that's with weeks left until registration deadlines fall, beginning in October.

Curtis Gans at the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate said a clear national picture won't emerge until more applications are processed next month.

And Kay Maxwell of the League of Women Voters cautioned that some years that promise a boom in new voters turn out to be duds on Election Day.

The danger is that new voters may not be as committed to showing up at the polls as longtime voters.

"Turning people out to vote is tougher than getting them to register," said Doug Lewis, who works with local election officials as head of The Election Centre, a nonprofit group.

Rural areas, which tend to be conservative and Republican, aren't necessarily reporting the same growth as urban, more liberal and Democratic strongholds: Brazos County, Texas, hasn't beaten its 2000 numbers so far, though officials said applications are now rolling in. The state of Oklahoma, however, saw new registrations in July and August increased by 60 per cent compared with four years ago.

Oklahoma officials said they had 16,000 new Republican registrations, 15,000 new Democrats and 3500 new independents. In Oregon, where new registrations grew by 4 per cent from January through September 1, Democrats outregistered Republicans two-to-one.

Lewis and others say that no matter what the partisan breakdown, the registration boom is real - driven by a swarm of organisations such as Smack Down Your Vote (a professional wrestling-connected campaign), Hip-Hop Team Vote, traditional groups like the League of Women Voters; party-aligned groups such as America Coming Together, made up of deep-pocketed Democrats; and many, many more.

"There seem to be hundreds of them," Ms Maxwell said.

The groups' focus is on states where the vote was close in 2000, but even in several states where the election isn't as competitive, officials say they are seeing new voters register in higher numbers.

Officials in El Paso County, Texas, Maryland's Montgomery County, a suburb of Washington, and California's Los Angeles County said registration numbers were on pace to be higher than 2000.

In many jurisdictions, administrators complain that the crush of new registrations is overloading staff.

Clerks have hired extra workers in West Virginia, Ohio and Colorado. Philadelphia borrowed employees from other city agencies and started working overtime two months earlier than the usual post-Labor Day push.
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That's actually kinda neat, as ugly as this campaign has been, it's great to see people actually getting off their butts and registering -- now tehy just have to take those butts to the voting booth.

09-28-2004, 05:18 AM	#26 (permalink)
maleficent Junkie Moderator Emeritus Location: Chicago	Flood of New US Voters Flood of new US voters sign up By Robert Tanner in New York September 28, 2004 NEW US voters are flooding local election offices with paperwork, registering in significantly higher numbers than four years ago as interest in the presidential election runs high and an array of activist groups recruit would-be voters who could prove critical come November 2. Cleveland has seen nearly twice as many new voters register so far as compared with 2000; Philadelphia is having its biggest boom in new voters in 20 years; and counties are bringing in temporary workers and employees from other agencies to help process all the new registration forms. Nationwide figures aren't yet available, but anecdotal evidence shows an upswing in many places, often urban but some rural. Some wonder whether the new voters - some of whom sign up at the insistence of workers paid by get-out-the-vote organisations - will actually make it to the polls on Election Day, but few dispute the registration boom. "We're swamped," said Bob Lee, who oversees voter registration in Philadelphia. "It seems like everybody and their little group is out there trying to register people." Some examples, from interviews with state and county officials across the country: - New registered voters in Miami-Dade County, a crucial Florida county in 2000, grew by 65 per cent through mid-September, compared with 2000. - New registered voters jumped nearly 150 per cent in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) in Ohio, one of the most hard-fought states this year. And that's with weeks left until registration deadlines fall, beginning in October. Curtis Gans at the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate said a clear national picture won't emerge until more applications are processed next month. And Kay Maxwell of the League of Women Voters cautioned that some years that promise a boom in new voters turn out to be duds on Election Day. The danger is that new voters may not be as committed to showing up at the polls as longtime voters. "Turning people out to vote is tougher than getting them to register," said Doug Lewis, who works with local election officials as head of The Election Centre, a nonprofit group. Rural areas, which tend to be conservative and Republican, aren't necessarily reporting the same growth as urban, more liberal and Democratic strongholds: Brazos County, Texas, hasn't beaten its 2000 numbers so far, though officials said applications are now rolling in. The state of Oklahoma, however, saw new registrations in July and August increased by 60 per cent compared with four years ago. Oklahoma officials said they had 16,000 new Republican registrations, 15,000 new Democrats and 3500 new independents. In Oregon, where new registrations grew by 4 per cent from January through September 1, Democrats outregistered Republicans two-to-one. Lewis and others say that no matter what the partisan breakdown, the registration boom is real - driven by a swarm of organisations such as Smack Down Your Vote (a professional wrestling-connected campaign), Hip-Hop Team Vote, traditional groups like the League of Women Voters; party-aligned groups such as America Coming Together, made up of deep-pocketed Democrats; and many, many more. "There seem to be hundreds of them," Ms Maxwell said. The groups' focus is on states where the vote was close in 2000, but even in several states where the election isn't as competitive, officials say they are seeing new voters register in higher numbers. Officials in El Paso County, Texas, Maryland's Montgomery County, a suburb of Washington, and California's Los Angeles County said registration numbers were on pace to be higher than 2000. In many jurisdictions, administrators complain that the crush of new registrations is overloading staff. Clerks have hired extra workers in West Virginia, Ohio and Colorado. Philadelphia borrowed employees from other city agencies and started working overtime two months earlier than the usual post-Labor Day push. <hr> That's actually kinda neat, as ugly as this campaign has been, it's great to see people actually getting off their butts and registering -- now tehy just have to take those butts to the voting booth. __________________ Free your heart from hatred. Free your mind from worries. Live simply. Give more. Expect less.