The rising tide of new voters
State director of elections Gary Bartlett has more startling numbers. Since the first of the year, more than 165,000 new voters have registered to take part in elections. That’s an average of 55,000 new voters per month.
It’s an unprecedented outpouring of potential voters in North Carolina – greater even than the bulge of new N.C. registrants before the 2004 fall elections.
Will polling places have enough ballots on hand in the May 6 primary? “We are encouraging all counties to review their order and make adjustments as needed,” Bartlett said.
For the record, the new registrants comprise 74,587 Democrats, 41,301 Republicans and 49,561 unaffiliated voters. About 64 percent of the new voters are white, 27 percent black. Nearly 54 percent are women. Overall, the state has about 5.7 million registered voters.
