NPR: Influx of New Voters Could Change Election

Influx of New Voters Could Change Election

It's the year of the new voter.

Take Pennsylvania. Since January, 210,000 new voters have been registered in Pennsylvania. Seventy percent of those new voters registered Democratic and 18 percent registered Republican.

African-Americans comprise many of those new voters, and they are clearly driven by the candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama. Another large group is 18-29-year olds -- a demographic also seen as favorable to Obama.

But McClatchy papers reports that this trend has not been limited to Democrats. "In New Hampshire, some 33,000 voters ages 18 to 29 cast ballots in the nation's first Republican primary, up 10,000 from 2000, the last contested GOP primary. Missouri and Texas also showed big increases in young GOP voters."

And experts say it's not just the appeal of Obama that's bringing out new voters for the Democrats.

This is an unusual election, in which "neither party has an incumbent and there's a subtext of recession and war," said Curtis Gans, director of the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate, which analyzes voter turnout. Turnout traditionally jumps when times are tough.

Another factor is that Republican and Democratic organizers have become much more sophisticated in getting out the vote.

12:50 PM ET | 04-14-2008 | permalink

Comments

most times i'm a'tired after a hard day a'snakehandlin' and a'cleanin my musket, but this year i'm a'gonna find some time and put down mah bible and gun and hitch my wagon over to the votin booth ta vote fer that Obama feller. he moves me so much with insights inta my own soul that even i don't know i got!

Sent by deek | 1:07 PM ET | 04-14-2008

people are motivated to vote this time. i've never seen anything like it.

and they may not be motivated by anti-gay rights propositions or gun legislation (pro or anti) or whatever flavor-of-the-week culture war is whipped up to distract people and get out the vote.

we have more important fish to fry. a flailing economy and a very unpopular war that's a drag on the economy come to mind.

so, deek, what do you think you have to gain by mocking both hillbillies and the rest of us? i hope that works out well for you, deek. it's going to work out well for America.

Sent by JT | 5:25 PM ET | 04-14-2008

It's hyperbolic satire.

Sent by deek | 8:22 AM ET | 04-15-2008

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