Lafayette Journal & Courier

Energized Democrats having voices heard

April 25, 2008

Working the polls on the Purdue campus last week, Heather Maddox said it was rare to see a voter request a Republican ballot.

Maddox, the Democratic co-chair of the Board of Election and Registration, said it's an exciting -- but curious -- trend to see nearly nine out of every 10 voters draw Democratic ballots in the early days of the Tippecanoe County election.

When officials started planning months ago for the May 6 primary, they didn't expect the race between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama would still be up in the air.

Hoosier voters now get to help decide, for the first time in 40 years, who will become the Democratic nominee for president. The race, so far, is drawing many first-time voters.

"People (here) are just very excited and energized and are really enjoying having their voice heard in this," said Jonathan Neal, an associate professor at Purdue and faculty adviser to the campus' College Democrats.

Traditionally, primaries in the county draw 3,000 to 4,000 Democratic voters and at least 10,000 Republicans. But given the close presidential race on the Democratic side, election officials estimated an increase to 20,000 Democratic voters.

In the first six days of early voting, nearly 1,200 Democratic votes were cast -- compared to 213 GOP votes. Those statistics include much of Purdue's student population, though, which generally includes a higher percentage of liberal voters than the county has as a whole.

Dennis Sutherland, 20, a first-time voter in Lafayette, said he was too excited to wait until May 6.

"My sister voted a few years before (in the presidential race) and she told me what it was like," Sutherland said. "I just wanted to stand up and make my voice heard."

County Clerk Linda Phillips said the party turnout thus far is not representative of the county. She expects total primary turnout will favor the Democratic Party in this election, but said the base of county Republican voters will remain steady.

Bert Rockman, head of Purdue's political science department, said, "Most of this is a function of Obama-itis. He's had a pretty significant impact on energizing voters, particularly the young people."

Bob Hicks, chairman of the county Republican Party, isn't worried about the health of his party.

"Anything that energizes people to get out and be part of the process is a good thing," he said. Hicks said many GOP voters aren't casting early ballots because they're still choosing who to support in the crowded county races.

Statistics from the first days of voting showed only about 10 percent of Republican voters crossing over to the Democratic ballot. Phillips said she'll continue to monitor that trend to help estimate total turnout.

If turnout remains high, Phillips said the county is prepared to hire more staff or bring in additional resources to handle the traffic.

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