72,000 local voters sign up (Cincinnati area)

[VolcanoJen]

Do I even need to mention that nobody is polling new voters?

Late in the article, check out this affirmation: Local elections officials predict voter turnout in Southwest Ohio to be between 75 percent and 85 percent. Turnout was below 64 percent statewide in the 2000 election.

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/09/04/loc_loc1amvote.html

Excerpt:

AMELIA - Greater Cincinnatians are swarming into county offices at an extraordinary pace to register for the presidential election in their battleground home state.

"It's been busier than we have ever seen," said Bob Mosketti, director of the Butler County Board of Elections since 1990. "And this is early, so that makes it even more unusual."

By Friday, two full months before Election Day and a month before the registration deadline, Hamilton County alone had already registered 34,000 new voters. Butler has registered more than 16,000 new voters this year; Warren County more than 10,000, and Clermont has 7,500 new registered voters.

<snip>

Connie Bare, chairwoman of the Clermont County Republican Party, said volunteers are registering people at party offices in Batavia at a clip of 100 people a day.

"It just seems to me there's a lot of interest in this election on both sides," she said. "Lots of people are coming out to vote who aren't political but are concerned about this election."

[wildeyed]

1. Do they register by party in Ohio?

Any sense what the dems vs. repug ratio is?

I read somewhere that Florida has registered a huge number of new voters this year, pretty heavily democratic, too.

[VolcanoJen]

2. No, no registration by party in Ohio

You declare your affiliation only during party primaries.

There is no sense as to these new voters being ours or theirs... but I've got a better-than-good feeling about this news. :-)

[mongo]

3. Better-than-good? Try Fantasamazeriffic!!!!

which would be a combination of fantastic, amazing and terrific!

If we have a fair and honest election, I think that Kerry will win by a landslide.

This HAS to be happening all over the country.

[Kukesa]

4. Actually, Jen, we folks in Montgomery Co. ARE polling

new voters.

We've been asked to turn in new voter registration cards to Dem HQ before they go to the Board of Elections.

We're recording their names, and phoning each of them will be part of our phone bank effort.