Democratic Party
enrollment surged past the 4 million mark Monday,
setting a state record on the last day Pennsylvanians had to
register to vote in next month's presidential primary.
The figures,
which showed modest declines in the ranks of Republicans and
independents, reflected intense interest in the race for the
Democratic presidential nomination and recruitment
efforts by both candidates, senators Hillary Rodham
Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois.
Since last year's
election, which featured races for judicial and
municipal offices, the number of Democrats increased by more
than 161,000, or more than 4%, to at least 4,044,952.
No political party in the state had previously reached
the 4 million threshold.
Registration in
the GOP declined by about 1%, to 3,215,478 statewide.
The figures,
released by state elections officials, did not include the
final hours of voter registration in the state's 67 counties
or mailed-in applications, which will count as long as
they are postmarked by Monday.
The largest
percentage gains were concentrated in the Philadelphia
suburbs and the state's central region, mostly in counties
where Republicans still outnumber Democrats.
Of the more than
8.2 million Pennsylvania voters, more than 120,000 are
people who were not previously registered to vote.
With four weeks
remaining until the April 22 primary, Clinton retains a
strong lead over Obama in Pennsylvania. A Quinnipiac
University poll earlier this month showed Clinton
favored by 53% of likely Democratic voters, and Obama
by 41%.
The business of
registering Pennsylvanians to vote was brisker than ever
in many counties on the last day to sign up.
''We had people
at the counter long before we opened up'' Monday morning,
said Joseph Passarella, director of voter services in
Montgomery County, which is among the suburban
Philadelphia counties that have seen large increases
in Democratic enrollment as the nomination battle continues.
Only registered
Democrats and Republicans can vote in the primary, which
also includes candidates for nominations for the statewide
row offices, Congress, and the state legislature.
At the Luzerne
County elections office in Wilkes-Barre, director Leonard
Piazza III said the pace Monday was ''very brisk,''
including hundreds of fresh applications dropped off
by the Clinton and Obama campaigns.
''This is more
like what we see in November'' for general elections, he
said. (Peter Jackson, AP)
