Surge in voter registration setting records

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A surge in voter registration that is setting records in the battleground states has led election forecasters to predict the largest increase in turnout in more than a decade.

With a little more than three weeks left before Election Day, election officials nationwide report that new voter registrations are still pouring in, boosting the number of registered voters in many states to levels never seen before.

"We have seen a real rush to become registered by eligible voters all over the country," said Meredith Imwalle, spokeswoman for the National Association of Secretaries of State, the officials who tabulate and oversee elections and voter registration.

Election officials say that the sharp rise in registration is to a large degree the result of a much more intensive grass-roots canvassing campaign by the Republican and Democratic parties and the campaigns of the two presidential candidates, President Bush and Sen. John Kerry.

"They have been very aggressive, the most aggressive that I've seen in my career," said Curtis Gans, who runs the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate.

The same political intensity that is driving voter registration to new highs likely will boost voter turnout as well, the analysts said.

"I don't think there has been a more emotionally intense an election since 1968. Turnout will be up," Mr. Gans said.

"It is likely that voter participation, which was at 54 percent in 2000, will reach or exceed the 58 percent level of 1992," he said in a recent turnout-forecast report.

Complete state-by-state voter registration will not be available for another few weeks, but both parties said they were still signing up voters in the battleground states, in which the election is likely to be decided.

Republican National Committee (RNC) officials said they have signed up more than 3 million new Republican voters. Democratic National Committee (DNC) officials said they have exceeded that number, but refused to give any statistics Friday.