Spring Break
After push, voter registration jumps
Allison Stice
Issue date: 10/27/08 Section: News
A massive wave of young people who registered to cast their ballots drove state voter rolls to new highs in anticipation of Election Day, according to numbers released Thursday by the state Board of Elections.
The board announced that more than 300,000 new voters had registered in Maryland by the Oct. 14 deadline - and 18- and 19-year-olds made up 27.5 percent of that total. In the past four presidential election years, the number of new registrations in that age group averaged 11 percent.
"I think it's a testament to two things," said Devin Ellis, the coordinator of TerpsVote. "The issues at hand matter to them day-to-day, and the personalities in the election have generated a lot of excitement. Secondly, it's in credit to the amazing work people have done with registration drives."
In Prince George's County, an astounding 28,000 people registered between Sept. 30 and the Oct. 14 deadline, helping the county increase its voter rolls by 6 percent from the 2004 election.
"Most of the outreach is right before the deadline, because it has that sense of urgency and people are more likely to do it," said Lauren Kim, president of the university chapter of Maryland Public Interest Research Group. "And most of those that register do vote."
Overall, the state saw a 10 percent increase in the number of registered voters this year, as 3.4 million people are eligible to cast their ballots on Nov. 4. Prince George's County has 494,859 people registered, up from 466,612 in 2004.
Organizations on the campus such as the Student Government Association and MaryPIRG are already looking forward to what this means for Election Day, in terms of long lines and the number of voting machines and poll workers at on-campus polling spots - 2,514 people signed up to vote through the efforts of campus groups.
Donna Duncan, the Maryland Board of Elections' director of election management, said the state uses projections of how many people will register to allocate voting machines. The actual number of registered voters exceeded expectations, but Duncan said it's not a concern.
The board announced that more than 300,000 new voters had registered in Maryland by the Oct. 14 deadline - and 18- and 19-year-olds made up 27.5 percent of that total. In the past four presidential election years, the number of new registrations in that age group averaged 11 percent.
"I think it's a testament to two things," said Devin Ellis, the coordinator of TerpsVote. "The issues at hand matter to them day-to-day, and the personalities in the election have generated a lot of excitement. Secondly, it's in credit to the amazing work people have done with registration drives."
In Prince George's County, an astounding 28,000 people registered between Sept. 30 and the Oct. 14 deadline, helping the county increase its voter rolls by 6 percent from the 2004 election.
"Most of the outreach is right before the deadline, because it has that sense of urgency and people are more likely to do it," said Lauren Kim, president of the university chapter of Maryland Public Interest Research Group. "And most of those that register do vote."
Overall, the state saw a 10 percent increase in the number of registered voters this year, as 3.4 million people are eligible to cast their ballots on Nov. 4. Prince George's County has 494,859 people registered, up from 466,612 in 2004.
Organizations on the campus such as the Student Government Association and MaryPIRG are already looking forward to what this means for Election Day, in terms of long lines and the number of voting machines and poll workers at on-campus polling spots - 2,514 people signed up to vote through the efforts of campus groups.
Donna Duncan, the Maryland Board of Elections' director of election management, said the state uses projections of how many people will register to allocate voting machines. The actual number of registered voters exceeded expectations, but Duncan said it's not a concern.
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Doug
posted 10/27/08 @ 11:43 PM EST
I smell ACORN again...
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