Registration heavy in Pike and Wayne

Obama ahead in PA polls

By TOM KANE

WAYNE & PIKE COUNTIES — Both Board of Election departments in Wayne and Pike counties have experienced an unusually heavy registration for the upcoming presidential election on Tuesday, November 4.

“I’ve been on this job for 23 years and I’ve seen nothing like these numbers,” said Janice DeSebo, Pike County election registrar.

“My staff has had to come in on Saturdays and work longer days to get it done,” said Yolanda Goldsack, director of the Pike County Board of Elections. “Registration has been completed but now we have to prepare the poll books with all voters’ names that go to each precinct. It’s a big job.”

In Wayne, the pace was equally hectic until the last day for registration this past Monday, October 6. “It was a lot more than in past years; however, more people are registering by the mail than ever before and they register when they get their drivers license, so that takes a lot of the pressure off this office, ” said Cindy Furman, director of the Wayne County Board of Elections.

“Since the primary, we have registered 977 people,” Furman said. “Total registrations now stand at 32,087 in Wayne.”

The largest party affiliation in Wayne is the Republican Party, which has registered 17,207. Next, comes the Democratic Party with 10,607 registrants. The Independent Party has 563 registrants. The Libertarian Party has 127 and the Green Party comes in with 109. A category called “No Affiliation” has 3,269.

The remainder of the total registrants is distributed among the following parties: Conservative Party, (27), Constitution Party (19), Liberal Party (11), Reform Party (21), and Right to Life (2). There is one Socialist registered in Wayne.

Similar party registration numbers were not available in Pike County.

Statewide, the Democratic Party is on the upswing while the Republican Party is shrinking a bit. According to figures reported by the Associated Press, more than 500,000 residents joined the Democrats for an increase of about 13 percent, while there are 28,000 fewer Republicans, about a one percent decrease.

The surge in Democrats is reflected in the latest polling in the Keystone State, which shows Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama ahead of Republican candidate John McCain. As of October 14, on www.realclearpolitics.com , one poll showed Obama with a 13-point lead, while another put his lead at 15 points.