AP: Many new Ohio voters are in areas that Kerry won

[usregimechange]

CLEVELAND - Newly registered voters in Ohio, an important swing state in the last presidential election, are overwhelmingly in areas that Democratic nominee John Kerry handily won four years ago, a newspaper reported Saturday.

Traditionally Democratic-leaning precincts are posting the highest number of new voter registrations, The Plain Dealer newspaper found in an analysis. One in four new voters are in the Democratic stronghold of Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland.

Almost 40 percent of the new voters live in precincts that heavily favored Kerry — those where Kerry earned at least 60 percent of the vote. By comparison, 27 percent of the new voters live in places where President Bush carried by the same margin.

The trend is thought to favor this year's Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama, who enjoys significant support in urban centers and among young or first-time voters.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080927/ap_on_el_pr/ohio_new_voters_1


25% of newly registered Ohio voters are in Democratic-leaning Cuyahoga County

One in four newly registered voters statewide lives in Demo- cratic-rich Cuyahoga County, with most of those in Cleveland.

Such figures could bode well for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who is relying on the county and other urban centers to give him a victory in November.

Franklin and Hamilton counties, which include Columbus and Cincinnati, respectively, round out the top three counties with the highest number of new voters.

Across the state, nearly 40 percent of the 700,000 newly registered voters live in precincts that Democrat John Kerry carried with at least 60 percent of the vote in 2004, according to a Plain Dealer analysis of voter registration data and 2004 election results from the secretary of state's office.

The data examined included people who registered between Dec. 1, 2007, and Sept. 24, 2008, and include those who have never previously voted and those who registered at new addresses.

Voters do not declare a party when they register in Ohio. Party affiliation is determined by which primary -- Republican or Democrat -- the voter casts a ballot in. Statewide, 27 percent of the newly registered voters live in precincts that President Bush carried with 60 percent of the vote.

http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/stories/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/122250441615100.xml&coll=2

[BlooInBloo]

1. (shrug) The demographic doesn't matter. Turnout does.

[Pirate Smile]

4. If you aren't registered, you can't vote. Registration is the first step before you can even get to

turnout.

It is OK to enjoy the registration gains. :)

[secondwind]

2. Isn't it something like 350,000 new voter registrations in Ohio??

[usregimechange]

3. 700k