PA election bureaus inundated with new registrations

New machines ready in Wayne

By TOM KANE

PIKE AND WAYNE COUNTIES, PA ? Never before have so many people wanted to be Democrats, at least in Wayne County. The election bureau has been inundated with voters who either want to change their parties from Republican to Democrat or to register as Democrats for the first time.

“Since January 1, 678 Republicans changed their registration to the Democratic Party and, together with new Democratic registrants, the party saw an increase of 966 voters,” said Cindy Furman, director of the Wayne County Bureau of Elections. “It’s unprecedented.”

The Republican Party still leads with 17,142 voters, down by 106, while the Democratic Party now has 10,054 voters.

A similar trend is happening in Pike County where over 900 voters transferred their allegiance. “That doesn’t count the number of new Democrats we have enrolled,” said Yolanda Goldsack, Pike County Board of Elections Director. Goldsack said the exact number of new registrants was not yet determined. The deadline for switching parties and new registrations was March 24.

The reason, as anyone who is not a hermit knows, is the excitement caused by the current Democratic Presidential contest between Senators Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois.

The Pennsylvania Primary is April 22. So far, Clinton is leading in the polls, although Obama’s numbers are creeping up, according to national pollsters.

“The primary in Pennsylvania is a closed primary,” said Wayne commissioner Wendell Kay. “Which means that only registered members can vote?not like in other states where any registered voter can participate in the primary regardless of party.

So, it’s no surprise that the bureau has been very busy getting ready for the big day.

“We had a lot of things to do besides registering people, like getting our machines in place, understanding how they work and making sure we will have enough ballots printed,” Furman said. “We’ve got it all done.”

The county will be using a new voting system with two new scanning machines and 40 new special machines designed for people with handicapping conditions. The scanning machines will tabulate all the paper ballots from the precincts.

“The scanners will be used at the bureau’s office and the handicapped machines will be at all 37 voting precincts. Three extra machines are being used for training of bureau personnel and for backup in case of emergencies. There will also be earphones for each machine for the visually impaired, she said.

The handicapped machines do not tabulate the votes; rather, they produce a printed ballot that is fed into the scanner like any other ballot.

The bureau has issued 544 absentee ballots and has gotten 194 returned so far, Furman said. The absentee ballots must be in the bureau office by 5:00 p.m. on April 18.

“We’re expecting a big turnout and we’re ready for it,” Furman said. “With the new scanners, the vote count shouldn’t take more than a few hours.”