Voter registration efforts increase in Mercer County

Some 3,000 new voter registrations have been received.
By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
MERCER, Pa. -- Massive voter registration efforts may result in a record election turnout for Mercer County.
Jim Bennington, director of elections for Mercer County, predicts 5,000 county residents will vote here compared with 2,400 in 2000. His office has received 2,000 to 3,000 new voter registrations.
The reason, he said, is that every candidate and party are mailing voter registration applications to potential voters. In addition, absentee ballots are now available on the state Web site.
Swing state
Many other voter registration efforts are under way, he said, noting that Grove City College alone registered 300 voters last week.
"Since Pennsylvania will be a swing state, we are getting bombarded," he said.
This means his office is working overtime on the new registrations, which must be verified to make sure potential voters are not on the books in another county.
He said 269 military absentee ballots were mailed out Monday to meet deadlines. However, he said if Ralph Nader is put back on the ballot, the ballots will have to be redone and remailed.
Bennington's not planning on getting home early on election night. He said results will be late because the absentee ballots cannot be processed until polls close at 8 p.m.