A potentially record-breaking number of Californians have signed up to vote in next month’s election.
The Secretary of State said since mid-September, over 1 million applications have been submitted to county election offices.
With this rush of applications, it already appears that the number of registered voters for this election will beat a state record of 17,334,275, set in 2009.
Monday was the deadline for Californians to register to vote, so applications are still streaming in, awaiting verification, said Secretary of State Debra Bowen in a statement.
The potential record may be the result of a new online voter registration service. County election offices recently started offering the service, which is designed to improve access to the voting system. More than half of the new registered voters verified by the Secretary of State so far used the new online registration system.
The registered voter tally is a promising sign for the upcoming general election after a disappointing turnout in the state’s June primary. Only about 27.8 registered voters in San Diego County voted, the Secretary of State’s office reported in June.
However, Bowen urged Californians not to get too excited – not all the registration applications may be accepted.
Local
“I must emphasize these are preliminary numbers and not the final confirmed roster of eligible voters in California because county elections officials are now hard at work verifying each and every application,” Bowen said in a statement.
“After all 58 county elections officials send their registration data to my office,” she added, “we will compile the certified statewide numbers and publish a final report of registered voters on November 2.”
For more on the issues facing voters this election, check our Decision 2012 feature page.
