A surge of newly registered voters in Rhode Island could play a major role in the state's March 4 presidential primary, which looms as an important vote in the close Democratic race between Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.In the last year, more than 43,000 new voters registered in Rhode Island, including about 21,000 who signed up in the four months before the Feb. 2 deadline, according to a Providence Journal analysis. That's compared to about 12,400 new voters who registered in the four months before the 2004 state presidential primary cycle. About 6,800 of the voters who registered in the last four months are Democrats, 1,900 are Republicans and 12,000 are independents, who can vote in either party's primary.
The new voters this year are also young voters. About 20,000 are between the ages of 18 and 29, the Journal reported.
Rhode Island's spike in young voter registration is being seen around the country, said John Della Volpe, director of polling at the Institute of Politics at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Della Volpe said the Sept. 11 terror attacks explains some of the surge. "Before that, young people didn't think their votes mattered; they thought all politicians were the same," Della Volpe said. "Now, politics is about major, life-and-death issues, the war, globalization and climate change."
Rhode Island holds its primary the same day as Vermont, Ohio and Texas. New voters have never been the foundation of a victory in Rhode Island's presidential primary, which usually comes after the nominees of both parties have been largely settled.
Clinton has held a steady lead in state polls, but neither candidate is taking anything for granted. Both Clinton and Obama are advertising on local TV and preparing robust voter turnout efforts.