Democrats forge edge with registration drives

[Tony_FLADEM]

Fueled partly by the aggressive registration drives of progressive groups, Democratic registration in Florida outpaced Republican registration by nearly 2 to 1 over the first four months of the year. Democrats picked up nearly 105,000 registrations, Republicans gained more than 58,000 and the ranks of independent voters swelled by nearly 87,000

<http://www.sptimes.com/2004/06/19/Worldandnation/Democrats_forge_edge_.shtml>

[bluestateguy]

1. Good news to be sure

But remember who is in charge of counting the votes in Florida.

[59millionmorons]

2. That is huge news

That's a lot of new Democrats and the independents seem to be on a mission. Hopefully there mission is to get rid of Bush, which i see very likely. If this info is correct were looking good in Florida.

[Hoping4Change]

3. Can someone explain to a Canuck why American's register

their party affiliation? If someone is going to vote for Democrats but registers as an Independent does he lose out on something? This is a profound mystery.

[LeftCoast]

4. Normally, it means that Independents can't vote in party primaries

but lately, states have been passing "open primary" laws so that any registered voter can vote in any party primary they want.

[Hoping4Change]

6. Mucho thank you.

[Nevernose]

13. Open primary laws go way back

Nixon screwed around with the Democratic primary in Claifornia in the late 40's early 50's.

If you ever get the chance, read "The Dragon and the Pink Lady" about Nixon's rise to power in California and how he won his Senate seat.

[Hoping4Change]

14. Sounds like a very interesting read. thanx.

[leyton]

5. Also, I do not think all states register by party.

I know NC does, but I think some states do not. (Perhaps the state parties keep track of membership or something.)

[Hoping4Change]

7. Well American elections get confusing for people...with you all

having registrations, hanging chads and a selected president.

You sure do things differently:)

[leyton]

15. Hey now, we're leaders in democracy,

didn't you get the memo? :P

[Hoping4Change]

8. Well American elections get confusing for people...with you all

having registrations, hanging chads and a selected president.

You sure do things differently:)

[Hoping4Change]

9. --

--

[Hoping4Change]

10. -

-

[Nevernose]

11. Also, the registration info is available to the party

So closer to election time, the state party will get a complete list of registered voters by precinct. Then party volunteers will be able to call them reminding them to vote, taking them to the polls, asking them to put Kerry yard signs in front of their houses, et cet.

In my state it's primarily for primary season, as Nevada doesn't have open primary laws.

[rumguy]

12. outstanding news