Update on Big Registration Increase in Lehigh Valley

[JPZenger]

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-dfgsgs.6619342oct07,0,7515881.story

October 7, 2008
The Morning Call

Excerpts:

"Lehigh County added about 13,800 voters this year, while Northampton County processed about 12,000 new applications--adding to each county's Democratic advantage. Democrats lead Republicans 109,502 to 77,209 in registered voters in Lehigh County and 100,158 to 69,292 in Northampton as of Monday morning, fueled by an aggressive registration effort by the Obama campaign. ''People are so worried they didn't get their registration in, they are doing it again just to be sure,'' Sterner said.

Theressa Mederrick was just as committed to Obama. ''My husband was in Fallujah and I don't know any soldier who thinks we should be in Iraq right now.''

That doesn't include the hundreds of registrations yet to be processed, or the possible thousands of new registrations expected to be dumped on the office last night by the local Obama and McCain campaigns. As the deadline approached, each week brought a higher number of new registration forms, topping out at more than 50,000 last week, said Department of State spokeswoman Rebecca Halton. ''This past week, we saw our highest one-week total this year,'' Halton said. ''It has gone up, from Sept. 1 to Sept. 8, we had almost 17,000. Then the week of Sept. 15 to the 22nd, it went up to more than 31,000. It nearly doubled just within two weeks.''

The next deadline: Oct. 28, the last day to request an absentee ballot."

[JPZenger]

1. 6 to 1 Dem advantage in Phila.

"Statewide, there were nearly 4.4 million registered Democrats as of yesterday afternoon, just over 3.2 million Republicans, 563,861 members of other parties and 431,161 independents.

In Philadelphia, what used to be a 5-to-1 Democratic registration edge as recently as last November, is now nearly a 6-to-1 Democratic margin. City election officials reported yesterday a total of 852,718 Democrats, 144,963 Republicans, 87,619 in other parties and 4,938 independents."

www.philly.com

[demodonkey]

2. We need a LARGE supply of emergency paper ballots! Enough 25-30% of registered voters.

Wish we had a "paper or plastic" law allowing ANY voter to ask for a paper ballot instead of voting on a paperless Direct Record Electronic vote-eater. But since we don't and won't on November 4, we at least need to be ready BIG TIME for machine breakdowns. And to motivate voters to STAY IN LINE and do not give up without exercising their right to vote.

Remember too, ANYONE IN LINE AT 8 PM HAS THE RIGHT TO VOTE no matter how long it takes. Period. No ifs, ands, or buts.