Brook Thompson

During early voting last week, a Marion County, Tenn., woman spent some time going over her ballot before she finally cast her vote, recalled Holly Henegar, administrator of the Marion County Election Commission.

“She said she kept looking and looking (at the ballot) but the presidents’ names never came up,” Ms. Henegar said.

Turnout for Georgia primary runoffs this week were anemic and small crowds are expected in today’s Tennessee county general and state primary voting.

But area election officials say voter registration in Tennessee and Georgia is up significantly compared with the presidential election year of 2004.

“We’ve had lots of people calling to register to vote and I would tell them they were too late for the (July primaries) and they would say, ‘That’s OK, I just want to vote in the November election,’” said Donna Bomar, Catoosa County election administrator.

Officials are seeing a surge of interest in the Nov. 4 contest between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain. The last day to register is Oct. 6 in both states.

“This is an historic moment that has nothing to do with politics or campaigning,” said Dr. Larry Woods, a professor of political science at Tennessee State University. “I agree with what the local election officials are hearing and it’s more than just Tennessee and Georgia.”

Fran Green, administrator for the Bradley County, Tenn., Election Commission, said voter interest will continue to rise.

“It’s already been pretty busy and they haven’t picked their running mates,” Ms. Green said. “I think (registration) will pick up even more so when they do that.”

Young people are making a significant impact in presidential elections, according to one research center.

In the 2004 election, 47 percent of people aged 18 to 24 voted, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE).

“The number of young voters in 2008 is likely to increase, driven by issues such as the Iraq war, the economy, and jobs,” according to Center director Peter Levine.

Savannah O’Donald of Ringgold, Ga., turned 18 on March 14 this year and said she was excited to vote.

“I was aware of the (2004) election but I did not follow it as closely as I have this one,” she said. “I think this election has got a lot of young voters out there excited to be part of the process. It shows you are an adult.”

Tennessee Elections Coordinator Brook Thompson said presidential elections tend to excite voters.

“I think that happens every four years,” Mr. Thompson said. “I think we are going to have a very big turnout that will rival what we did four years ago when we had 2.1 million to vote.”

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