Asheville News

More on N.C. voter registration, leading up to May 6 primary

Jason Sandford April 13, 2008

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

WLOSers this past week took another stab and trying to explain what’s happening with voter registration in North Carolina and Buncombe County. Russ Bowen tackled the topic this time, and again didn’t really nail down what’s going on. Russ had a lot of anecdotal information, but this USA Today story on Monday gave me more of what I’ve been looking for – detail:

In North Carolina, which votes May 6, 165,449 new voters have registered since Jan. 1, nearly a 3% jump in total registration. Three-quarters of the new voters are Democratic or independent and therefore eligible to vote in the Clinton-Obama contest.

Already-registered voters are also switching their party affiliation to participate in upcoming Democratic primaries.

In North Carolina, 31,250 people switched their party registration since the beginning of the year and 80% became Democrat or independent. The state allows independents to vote in party primaries. In Oregon, 12,548 people switched their affiliation last month, and 77% of them became Democrats.

Now that’s telling me something – a 3 percent jump in total registration is huge. And 30,000 people switching their registration – also huge.

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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4 Comments

Thunder Pig April 14, 2008

I suspect many of the party switchers are participating in Operation C.H.A.O.S.

I was strongly tempted to switch as well, but there are several important primary races in the GOP I wish to participate in instead of helping Hillary weaken Obama or help push other perceived weaker Dems past the Primary.

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Soni April 13, 2008

I’ve heard that some Repubs are switching their party in order to vote for whomever they think McCain can beat in the big event (ie sabotaging the Dem vote). Wonder if any of these numbers are related to that?

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Ash April 13, 2008

zoots, i know you’re right – but i keep hoping…

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Zoots April 13, 2008

You want detail? You did exactly the right thing — read a newspaper. I take it you’ve never worked in any other media?

The problem with television news is that it’s a whole different beast. TV stories come in bites and are tailored for a person with an eighth grade reading level and the attention span of a chihuahua. It’s sad, but it’s also reality — you can’t get the kind of depth a news article will give you that a television news package tries to present in the span of a minute and a half.

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