Pa. voter registration is down

County election officials report a much tamer time compared with the influx of voters who registered during the 2008 presidential race.

As the deadline passed Monday for Pennsylvanians to register to vote in the upcoming November election, county election officials said they had an easier time with registration than in the last major election two years ago.

The 2008 presidential race generated so much voter enthusiasm that people lined up to register for the first time. Many were high school and college students. But voter registration for this year’s midterm elections is a very different story.

Andy Lewis, who handles voter registration in Delaware County, says that two years ago, they had extra tables set up outside the courthouse to take registration applications.

“Back in 2008, we had a lot of special interest groups out there registering new voters and we had a significant influx of new registration,” says Lewis. “And that has fallen off significantly as you might expect in a midterm election.”

Delaware County has lost a net of 13,000 registered voters since 2008. Other counties are reporting similar drops.

In November, Pennsylvanians will elect a new governor and a new U.S. senator. Voters also will fill all 19 of the state’s Congressional seats and 228 seats in the state Legislature.