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Democrat registration surge helps state set voter record
By Brad Cain, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, October 15, 2008 | No comments posted.
SALEM — Led by a surge in Democratic voter sign-ups, Oregon voter registration has set a record for the Nov. 4 election.
The secretary of state’s office said 2.14 million Oregonians are registered to vote — at least 2,000 above the previous high-water mark set in the 2004 presidential election.
Voter sign-up efforts by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s Oregon campaign and other groups have helped give the Democrats a big advantage. There are at least 230,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans in Oregon.
“We’ve never seen one party hold a numerical advantage that large over another party in Oregon history,” said Don Hamilton, spokesman for the secretary of state’s office.
Tuesday was the deadline to register to vote in Oregon.
At the Multnomah County elections office, school teacher Tom Meyers turned in a batch of forms from new voters he had signed up as part of a one-man registration drive.
“I always carry the forms around with me, and I sign up people at coffee shops, restaurants and malls. I’m just a big believer in the importance of voting,” said Meyers.
A larger, more coordinated drive came to a conclusion Tuesday when Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Merkley, joined by Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold and representatives of Obama’s Oregon campaign, conducted a rally at the University of Oregon campus.
“We’ve registered thousands of new voters in the last few days,” Merkley spokesman Matt Canter said of the coordinated Democratic campaign.
The increase in Democratic voter signups is expected to help put Oregon solidly in the Obama column Nov. 4 and could spell trouble for Republican Sen. Gordon Smith, who’s locked in a tough re-election battle with Merkley.
With all the interest the presidential race has generated this year, state election officials said there have been an estimated 200,000 new, first-time voter registrations since Jan. 1.
The final number of voters eligible to vote Nov. 4 won’t be known for several days, when election officials finish the paperwork from the final day of registration.
However, the totals as of midday Tuesday showed Democrats holding a substantial lead over Republicans. There were 923,529 registered Democrats, or 43.2 percent, compared with 691,212 Republicans, or 32.3 percent.
In recent elections, Republicans trailed Democrats by about 3 percentage points in overall voter registration.
The secretary of state’s office said 2.14 million Oregonians are registered to vote — at least 2,000 above the previous high-water mark set in the 2004 presidential election.
Voter sign-up efforts by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s Oregon campaign and other groups have helped give the Democrats a big advantage. There are at least 230,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans in Oregon.
“We’ve never seen one party hold a numerical advantage that large over another party in Oregon history,” said Don Hamilton, spokesman for the secretary of state’s office.
Tuesday was the deadline to register to vote in Oregon.
At the Multnomah County elections office, school teacher Tom Meyers turned in a batch of forms from new voters he had signed up as part of a one-man registration drive.
“I always carry the forms around with me, and I sign up people at coffee shops, restaurants and malls. I’m just a big believer in the importance of voting,” said Meyers.
A larger, more coordinated drive came to a conclusion Tuesday when Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Merkley, joined by Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold and representatives of Obama’s Oregon campaign, conducted a rally at the University of Oregon campus.
“We’ve registered thousands of new voters in the last few days,” Merkley spokesman Matt Canter said of the coordinated Democratic campaign.
The increase in Democratic voter signups is expected to help put Oregon solidly in the Obama column Nov. 4 and could spell trouble for Republican Sen. Gordon Smith, who’s locked in a tough re-election battle with Merkley.
With all the interest the presidential race has generated this year, state election officials said there have been an estimated 200,000 new, first-time voter registrations since Jan. 1.
The final number of voters eligible to vote Nov. 4 won’t be known for several days, when election officials finish the paperwork from the final day of registration.
However, the totals as of midday Tuesday showed Democrats holding a substantial lead over Republicans. There were 923,529 registered Democrats, or 43.2 percent, compared with 691,212 Republicans, or 32.3 percent.
In recent elections, Republicans trailed Democrats by about 3 percentage points in overall voter registration.
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