Voter registration at highest level since women got the vote

The Center for the Study of the American Electorate today released its voter registration figures for this election. The increase was moderate -- 2.5% -- but the result is a record.

The center, part of American University, projects that 153.1 million of the country's eligible citizens are now registered to vote. That's 73.5% -- better than the previous high of 72.1% in 1964 and the highest since at least 1920, when women were given the right to vote.

Center director Curtis Gans says this is the second straight election with a significant registration increase, coming after a 3% boost in 2004. He says as many as 135 million people -- nearly 65% of those eligible -- could turn out to vote. That would be the highest turnout since 1960.

Gans projects Democratic registration will be up 1.4% or 2.9 million this year, while GOP registration will be down 1.5 million. The center said that's a small drop but that it declined at all "in this year of intense citizen interest in the election is significant."

Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia have partisan registration. Based on information so far, the center said, Democratic registration went up significantly in Nevada, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Arizona, New Jersey and Maryland. GOP registration declined in Colorado, Florida and Pennsylvania, but rose in Nevada.

Posted 04:12 PM/ET, November 02, 2008

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