Reply #21: Georgia and North Carolina voter surge

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Voter registration surges in Georgia, North Carolina

Georgia has grown the most: an astounding 300,000 new voters have been added to the rolls since January 2008, putting the total number of active registrants at 4.7 million. To put that in context:

The bump is significant, said Charles Bullock, a University of Georgia political scientist. As a comparison, he pointed out that there were 500,000 names added to the active voting rolls in the three years between the presidential election in 2004 and Jan. 1 of this year. "That is more than a 20 percent increase."

Overall, new registrations have favored Democrats and African-Americans -- although registration is up across the board, leaving the electorate looking only slightly different than past elections. For example, 1.3 million African-Americans are registered in Georgia, up from 1.2 million in 2006, nudging up the black share of the electorate from 27% to 28% in two years.

North Carolina's number of registered voters has also grown in 2008, although not as much as Georgia. According to N.C. State Board of Election statistics, just over 203,000 new voters have registered since January.

And, if no one given it any consideration, polling precinct changes, may be worth the effort to follow.