The Big Mobilization: Increased Voter Registration in 2008

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https://hdl.handle.net/11299/200524

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The Big Mobilization: Increased Voter Registration in 2008

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Lawrence, Jacobs

Burns, Melanie

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2008-05-08

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Abstract

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mobilization

voter

registration

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The 2008 contests for the Republican and Democratic Party presidential nominations have been a boon for American democracy. The intense competition for nomination combined with investments in mobilizing voters for primaries and caucuses has fuelled an historic surge in voter registration compared to its level during the 2004 nomination contests. A study of official voter registration records reveals the following: • Record voter registration was produced in 43 out of the 44 states for which there are official data during comparable periods in 2004 and 2008. • North Carolina registration in April 2008 is 14 percent higher than in the comparable period in 2004 and Indiana is up 20 percent. The unusually wideopen competition for the Republican and Democratic presidential nominations has fuelled this remarkable jump in voter participation. • About a quarter of the new voter registration records were set in purple states, perhaps altering the electoral landscape in these states since 2004. • Although Democrats fear that the battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton may weaken their Party’s chances in November by alienating some voters, it may also have helped by increasing voter registration. Seventeen of the 43 states set records during primaries or caucuses that were held after Super Tuesday when the Republican contest largely came to an end. These voters may be a new and important pool of voters for Democratic candidates to recruit in November, offsetting perhaps voters that they lose because of lingering ill will.

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Center for the Study of Politics and Governance, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota Twin Cities

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Lawrence, Jacobs; Burns, Melanie. (2008). The Big Mobilization: Increased Voter Registration in 2008. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/200524.

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