Voters switch parties to help McCain
By STEVE MARRONI
Evening Sun Reporter
Article Launched: 03/13/2008 12:12:56 PM EDT
Sandra Reed of Gettysburg has been a Republican since she was old enough to vote.
But, Tuesday, she and her husband, Vernon, went to the Adams County Courthouse and became Democrats.
"We were registered Republicans, and we will always be Republicans, but we want to help Hillary get the No. 1 position for the Democrats," said Reed, 70. "So, we are switching for the primary to vote for Hillary, then we will switch back and vote for McCain."
With last week's primaries in Ohio and Texas creating a more-heated race between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, local election officials are seeing not only more new voters, but they are also seeing more people switching their party affiliations - mainly from Republican to Democrat.
Some think this is because votes in Pennsylvania's April 22 Democratic primary will likely have national implications, and may even choose a winner.
Others say Republicans want to have a say in who their candidate, Sen. John McCain, will face in November.
That's what the Reeds did. They got the idea to influence the Democratic race from conservative radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, she said. Limbaugh recommended his listeners temporarily switch party affiliation to give Clinton a boost, and vote out Obama.
More:
http://www.eveningsun.com/ci_8559675~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Clinton-Obama race spurs party switches
By JULIA SILVERMAN, Associated Press Writer
Tue Apr 1, 1:57 PM ET
~snip~
In Pennsylvania, where the primary is set for April 22, the Democrats have registered a staggering 235,000 new voters since last fall, pushing their numbers to more than 4.1 million for the first time. In West Virginia, which votes on May 13, the increase has come in the form of a swell in nonaffiliated voters, said Democratic Party executive director Tom Vogel, after the Democratic primary was opened to independents for the first time in recent history.
"We are sure there are Republicans who are switching to vote in our primary, whether they honestly want to vote or if they have more malicious purposes to try to get the candidate of their choice to run against," Vogel said.
More:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080401/ap_on_el_pr/vote_switching