OHIO VOTERS Registration increases in Democratic counties

Most new voters are Democrats, an official said.
AKRON (AP) -- Traditionally Democratic counties are registering more new Ohio voters than counties that have historically voted Republican, according to an Akron Beacon Journal analysis.
Registration through Friday is up 8.5 percent, or 303,431 voters, from a year ago in 18 counties that previously backed the Democratic presidential candidate. The 57 counties that deliver for Republicans have registered 217,500 new voters, a 7.3 percent increase.
Ohioans do not have to declare party affiliation to register, and each new registered voter in those counties cannot be assumed as a ballot cast for President Bush or Democratic challenger John Kerry.
Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell's spokesman Carlo LoParo said the office expects final registration figures will exceed 7.7 million -- about 400,000 shy of Ohio's number of residents at least 18 years old.
In Ohio's 13 bellwether counties, which have traditionally have sided with the winning candidate regardless of party, voter registration has increased about 47,000, or 8 percent.
Working hard
Both campaigns are excited about the numbers.
"Democrats are energized by this election," said Brendon Cull, a spokesman for the Kerry campaign in Ohio. Volunteers are "working hard to make sure their friends and neighbors are all registered to vote."
Jason Mauk, Ohio Republican Party spokesman, said Democrats and groups supporting them have paid canvassers, who worry more about making money than signing up qualified voters.
"We have never targeted our voter registration program on quantity as much as we have on quality," Mauk said. "We believe our strategy is far more efficient and accurate than anything we've seen on the other side."
Blackwell's office receives electronic voter registration tallies daily from 66 counties. The Beacon Journal contacted the remaining 22 counties to complete its analysis.
Election boards will continue to register voters until the deadline today. Many counties still have stacks of cards to process and it will take several weeks to get final numbers.
"I've been here since 1983 and I have never seen anything like this," said Jan Clair, Lake County's elections director.
She said more than 15,000 new voters signed up this year in Lake County, which Republicans have traditionally carried. Herself a Republican, Clair said she believes most new voters are Democrats.
"A higher number than usual of the registrations are from individuals and blue-collar areas that have not been active in the voting process before. What we're seeing is more of a traditional Democrat vote," Clair said. "The question is: Will they get them out to vote?"
In 2000, nearly 4.7 million Ohioans voted in the presidential election. Bush won by 165,019 votes.