There's hopeful news from Bob Hall at Democracy NC this afternoon: The combination of a surge in voter registration combined with the competitive presidential election will mean a record turnout this fall:
We could have 700,000 or even one million more voters than the 3.5 million who cast ballots in 2004." Hall said. "There are already 700,000 more registered voters than there were in July 2004 and we've often seen 200,000 new voters added in the final months before an election."
Now the sobering flipside:
Voters could be facing three-hour long lines at the polls in November if local election officials don't make plans now to hire more staff and open more early voting sites, a nonpartisan watchdog group declared today.
"You can look ahead and see this horrible traffic jam, but it can be prevented if election officials take steps to add more opportunities for voting before the Election Day crush," said Bob Hall, executive director of Democracy North Carolina, a Durham-based research and advocacy center.
All in all, probably still a good problem to have.
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