Over 700,000 Rhode Islanders, who make up 85 percent of the state's adult population, are now registered to vote in next week's election, according to the Secretary of State Ralph Mollis' office. The unprecedented number includes 42,439 registrations in the past nine months.
The popularity of the candidates at the top of the ballots and an aggressive voter registration campaign led to the surge in new voters, said Chris Barnett, communications director for the secretary of state.
"The people are more excited about this year's election than any in recent memory ... It has really caught people's imaginations," he said. "We've been to every college campus in Rhode Island. We've done voter registration drives in workplaces ... We are doing everything we can to make it easy for people to register."
Barnett said more than 296,000 voters are currently registered as Democrats, with over 76,000 Republicans and more than 322,000 unaffiliated registrations.
Board of Elections Executive Director Robert Kando said the increase was due to the closeness of the presidential race and to a new state policy allowing people to register to vote when they renew their driver's licenses.
"All the information that you use for your license is common to your registration," he said. "Every person that goes to the (Department of Motor Vehicles) ... has to answer the question, 'Do you want to register?'"
Jennifer Lawless, assistant professor of political science, said the new registrations were unlikely to have an impact on the presidential race.
"Rhode Island is the bluest of blue states," she said. "There's no question that Barack Obama will win Rhode Island's four electoral votes."
But Lawless said the growing voter pool affects local races and strengthens the democratic process.
"Local races could see more people," she said. "Democrats tend to win for all levels of office, so I'm not sure that it will affect the outcome, but it certainly is good for democracy."
Barnett said he was confident the new registrations and the excitement of the presidential race would lead to increased turnout.
"We think that 500,000 Rhode Islanders will turn out," he said. "That's roughly 70 percent turnout. In absolute numbers, that's a record." The previous record was set in 1992 with 453,365 voters, according to a statement from the secretary of state's office.
To handle the unprecedented volume of voters, the Board of Elections has set up 542 polling places throughout the state - a three-fold increase from the presidential primary in March, but a slight decrease from the 2004 presidential election.
But Kando said this decrease would not be an issue on election day.
"The raw number excluding city halls is slightly lower, but not sizeable," he said. "It actually works out better because the smaller precincts are not all that efficient and it allows us to put more poll workers into busier precincts."
Both Barnett and Kando said they have taken measures to prevent major problems on Nov. 4.
Kando said the board always takes precautions to prepare for more voters than expected.
"Every election day, there are some minor problems," he said, but downplayed the possibility of major problems.
"We have taken great, great preparations to avoid that," said Kando, adding that the board set up a mock election to check systems, reviewed all preparations and carefully trained poll workers. "We also have contingency plans should something go wrong."
"We're hoping for good weather," he added.
Barnett said his office started a voter education campaign to "help voters cope with the record turnout" and dispense "common sense advice."
The secretary of state's Web site has also been updated so visitors can locate polling places, view a sample ballot, and review their registration.
Voters "should be well prepared to have a flawless experience at the polls," Barnett said, advising voters to "confirm your polling place, check your voter registration information and vote during off hours."
