Saturday, April 19, 2008

Number of voters increases statewide





Number of voters increases statewide
By DEON HAMPTON World Staff Writer
4/19/2008


An election official attributes higher voter registration to interest in the 2008 presidential election.

Increased interest in the November presidential election has likely spurred more Oklahomans to register to vote, a trend that is expected to continue through the fall, officials said.

More than 44,000 new voters have been added statewide since the end of 2007.

At the end of 2007, there were 2,013,942 registered voters in Oklahoma, records show.

Of those, 332,018 were in Tulsa County, records show.

By April 1, there were 2,058,091 voters in Oklahoma, officials said. Of those, 338,559 are registered in Tulsa County, records show.

"These are pretty high numbers," said Fran Roach, assistant secretary with Oklahoma State Election Board.

Roach said registration numbers are rising because of the presidential campaign.

"There's so much interest in the races," she said.

Ted McClain, 44, is a registered voter who voted in the presidential primary elections and plans to vote in the presidential election.

"You can't have a say-so and not vote," McClain said. "It's my given right to vote."

Bernadetta Balogh, 50, also voted in the presidential primary elections and plans to vote in the presidential election. She said it's important for citizens to exercise their right to vote.

"I first registered to vote when I was 18," Balogh said.

As the presidential elections garner more attention, Roach expects more Tulsans to register to vote.

"We expect a large number of increases in the fall for the November presidential election," she said.

Gearing up for the February presidential primaries, 31,294 Oklahomans registered in January as new voters, and about 5,724 of those were from Tulsa County, officials said.

Leading up to the 2004 presidential elections between President Bush and John Kerry, 41,427 Oklahomans registered that September to vote, followed by 92,566 in October.

"Past history shows there will be an increase in voters this year," Roach said.

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