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Nationwide Voter Registration Numbers Reached 185 Million -- Up 42 Million Since 2004 - Via Threat Level:
The National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) released preliminary voter registration numbers from a nationwide survey and showed twenty states reporting record numbers in 2008 and total registration up at least 42 million since 2004.
According to the survey (.pdf), at least 185 million (184,746,883) people were registered to vote in this year's general election, an increase of about 42 million voters since 2004. In 2000, the number of registered voters was estimated to be 129.5 million, according to Census Bureau numbers.
The numbers collected were released November 3, the day before the general election, but do not represent final registration figures since some of the numbers were collected before the state deadlines for registration applications (.pdf). Additionally, many states, overwhelmed by the increase in new voters registering, had not finish processing new voter registration applications by the time these numbers were collected, although voters who submitted an application by their state's deadline were entitled to cast a provisional ballot in the election even though they were not yet on their state's voter roll.
The registration numbers also do not include voters who registered at the polls in states that allow election-day registration. Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Wyoming all offer election-day registration. Alaska, Connecticut and Rhode Island have election-day registration for people who want to vote only in the presidential race.
It's unclear if the numbers include voters whose registration status has been challenged under a new federal law that requires states to match the driver's license or Social Security number that new voters provide on their registration application against state motor vehicle records and the Social Security Administration database. Some states, like Florida, flag voters who fail a match, and it's unclear if these voters are included in registration numbers.
North Dakota did not supply any numbers, since the state is the only one that does not require voters to register to cast ballots.
The states with record registration numbers are: Alabama, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia
California has the largest number of registered voters at 17.3 million. Texas is next with 13.5 million, followed by New York (12 million) and Florida (11.2 million).
Early voter turnout numbers for the 2008 election indicate that about 136.6 million people cast ballots. One expert has estimated that voter turnout will figures will be about 64.1 percent.
In the 2004 presidential election, although 142 million were registered to vote, only 122.3 million people actually voted, which was a record high at the time. In 2000, of the 129.5 million registered voters, only 111 million turned out to vote, according to government figures.
This is the first presidential election in which the National Association of Secretaries of State has collected nationwide registration figures, according to NASS spokeswoman Kay Stimson.
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Comments
High voter turnout masks serious underlying flaws
That a greater share of the electorate is actually voting is good news. It makes sense because the 2008 election had no incumbents running, so it was a tough, fairly equal fight. Still, I see voting as an essentially empty act which confers legitimacy on the political elite and masks more serious, lurking dangers in our democracy. I think America's political system is broken.
I'm a private citizen, terrorism prevention activist, independent thinker.
I believe our nation is in serious trouble. I believe you are aware, perhaps better than most, of serious threats confronting us. The financial meltdown, foreign wars, a labyrinthine tax code, the possibility of smuggled nuclear bombs, invasions of privacy, lobbyists influencing Washington, corruption of state governments, apathetic citizens, and rampant partisanship are in my view a few of many symptoms of a general breakdown of our political system. These failures not only jeopardize the lives of Americans but undercut the legitimacy of authorities and prevent them from doing an adequate job of preventing terrorism. Authorities, trying to protect us, are tempted to violate our privacy in order to prevent future attacks. I fail to see how the system can fix itself.
Therefore, I summon a Second Constitutional Convention to meet in Independence Hall in Philadelphia beginning July 4, 2009 of the nation's brightest thinkers, scholars, states-persons, and non-partisan as well as partisan thinkers of character to craft an alternative Constitution to be voted on by the public at a later date which fixes serious flaws regarding foreign policy, citizenship, privacy, crime & tyranny & terrorism prevention, partisanship, and corruption. I believe neither amendments to the existing Constitution nor a change of administration can be sufficient to fix things, but rather we need a new Constitution based as much as possible on the existing Constitution which solves 21st century problems.
About my authority. Some may question my authority to call this Convention on the grounds that I am neither an elected official nor acting on behalf of a state government. They may point out, correctly, that the delegates to the first Convention in 1787 were chosen by state governments. If state officials today are (1) aware of serious flaws and (2) have the power to propose amendments or summon a second Convention, then why have they failed to do so? Their collective inaction confirms my view that the political process is broken, that state governments are corrupt, inept, ruled by partisan politics. And my criticism applies to elected leaders at every level (federal, state, county, local). I blame no person, neither political party, no administration. Our current predicament is the result of long chains of cause and effect dating back centuries. It's nobody's fault. But I, as a citizen, assert authority to act; it comes from my power to think, to use reason to protect myself and my nation.
About fellow citizens. Every citizen, in theory, has similar authority as me, but in reality, most citizens have a minimal role in self-governance, rarely attend local government meetings, fail to discuss politics, often fail to vote, don't participate in democracy. They're too busy to think about the problem. It is unlikely that a serious reform movement will emerge from regular citizens; rather, the impetus for reform can only come from the political class itself: leading citizens, politicians, experts, officials, justices, military officers, criminal-justice experts, players who have the fame and money to influence events and the power to command attention while being smart enough to sense that something is wrong and wise enough to fix it. They, too, are stakeholders in America, and stand to gain or lose just like everybody else.
My criteria for selecting delegates. That state governments have failed to act puts me, as a private citizen, in the position of having to choose delegates. So, I chose over one hundred of the nation's best thinkers, experts, politicians, economists, historians, philosophers, journalists, celebrities, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and others. I strove for diversity -- male and female, left and center and right, old and young, famous and unknowns, rich and middle class and poor. I favored lawyers, particularly experts in Constitutional law. I am inviting the entire current Supreme Court for continuity. I favored persons with credentials in different areas, such as journalists with prior experience in government. I included a few capable foreigners. I chose some people with whom I disagree about many things. I favored those I thought might put America above partisan politics. I tried to balance partisans from both left and right. I am not choosing myself (although I see myself as non-partisan). If there are qualified people I've overlooked, let me know and I'll consider adding them to my list. Hopefully these are America's best thinkers. I tried my best to select the best informed, smartest, most capable persons to fix our nation.
I have included my tentative list of delegates (subject to change).
Sincerely,
tom sulcer
PS My particular strategy to fix America's problems is brief, non-partisan, non-religious, tough, rational, 184 pages in my book Common Sense II: How to Prevent the Three Types of Terrorism on Amazon (and Kindle). I think my strategies, if enacted, would make your job as authorities easier and safer. Paperback copies are available on Amazon (the online bookseller). Please note that these ideas have not been put through the grinder of serious debate. While I think I'm right, I may be wrong, and I seek opportunities to expose my ideas to serious scrutiny.
PS PS My tentative list of delegates follows. I will send invitations soon. These invitations are not transferable.
Fouad Ajami
Honorable Justice of the Supreme Court Samuel Alito
Graham Allison
Jonathan Alter
Akhil Reed Amar
Maya Angelou
James Addison Baker, III
James Bennett
Ben Shalom Bernanke
Walter Berns
Stephen Biddle
Senator or Vice President Joseph Biden
Tony Blair
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
Robert Heron Bork
Donna Brazile
Honorable Justice of the Supreme Court Stephen Gerald Breyer
Sergey Mikhailovich Brin
Tom Brokaw
Ronald Brownstein
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Patrick Joseph Buchanan
Warren Buffett
President George H. W. Bush
President Jimmy Carter
Michael Chertoff
Noam Chomsky
Senator Hillary Clinton
President William Jefferson Clinton
Stephen Colbert
Bill Cosby
Jim Cramer
Angela Davis
Lou Dobbs
Brian Doherty
Senator Elizabeth Dole
Garrett G. Fagan
Bruce Fein
Niall Ferguson
Carly Fiorina
Thomas Friedman
John Fund
Bill Gates
David Richmond Gergen
Newt Gingrich
Benjamin Ginsberg
Honorable Justice of the Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Rudolph Giuliani
Albert Arnold Gore, Jr.
Alan Greenspan
Kevin R.C. Gutzman
Nick Hanauer
Sam Harris
Elisabeth Hasselbeck
Senator Orrin Hatch
Gene Healy
Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke
Arianna Huffington
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr.
Benjamin Todd Jealous
Steve Jobs
Angelina Jolie
Robert Kagan
Tom Kean Sr.
John Kekes
Honorable Justice of the Supreme Court Anthony McLeod Kennedy
David M. Kennedy
Caroline Kennedy
Senator John Kerry
Henry Kissinger
Diane Klaif
Joe Klein
Paul Robin Krugman
Sanford Levinson
Senator Joseph Lieberman
Eric Liu
William Maher, Jr.
Charles S. Maier
David Alan Mamet
Senator or President John McCain
Dick Meyer
Bill Moyers
Ralph Nader
Steven M. Nadler
Sam Nunn
Honorable Justice of the Supreme Court Sandra Day O'Connor
Michael Edward O'Hanlon
Senator or President Barack Obama
Suze Orman
Larry Page
Governor or Vice President Sarah Palin
Congressperson Ron Paul
Henry M. "Hank" Paulson Jr.
Speaker of the House Representative Nancy Pelosi
General David Petraeus
T. Boone Pickens
Kenneth Michael Pollack
Colin Luther Powell
Samantha Power
Dan Rather
Honorable Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts
Mitt Romney
Dennis Ross
Honorable Justice of the Supreme Court Antonin Scalia
Senator Charles Schumer
Governor Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger
Brent Scowcroft
General Eric Ken Shinseki
Maria Shriver
George Shultz
Honorable Justice of the Supreme Court David H. Souter
Senator Arlen Specter
Stephen Allan Spielberg
George Robert Stephanopoulos
Honorable Justice of the Supreme Court John Paul Stevens
John R. Stossel
Andrew Sullivan
Lawrence Henry "Larry" Summers
Honorable Justice of the Supreme Court Clarence Thomas
Jeffrey Ross Toobin
Peter Victor Ueberroth
Stephen William Van Evera
Barbara Walters
Cornel West
George Frederick Will
Valerie Elise Plame Wilson
Oprah Winfrey
Naomi Wolf
Thomas E. Woods, Jr.
Robin Wright
Jerry Yang
Fareed Zakaria