By By Lydia Grimes
Voter registration is up in Escambia County and according to Secretary of State Beth Chapman said her staff, this is the case in most of the 67 counties' Board of Registrars.
"We have more than usual numbers," Michael Watson, Chairman of the Escambia County Board of Registrars, said. "Numbers always go up during a presidential election and this year there is the fact that we have the first African-American on a ticket and also the first time a woman has been on the Republican ticket. People are more interested. We had one young man, Tray Smith, of Atmore who was working on his Eagle Scout badge and was able to get more that 100 people to fill out voter registration applications."
Chapman said that her office is receiving around 200-300 registration applications daily. The Secretary of State Elections Division employees said that the numbers are much larger than in previous election cycles.
"We continue to expect record-breaking numbers of citizens to cast their votes in the Nov. 4 general election," Chapman said. "Democracy is the bedrock of our society and I am glad more citizens are expressing an interest in participating in it.
"I am very encouraged and excited about the enthusiasm which is spreading about the Nov. 4 General Election," she added. "With 40 percent voter participation in the presidential preference primary in February, my staff and I expect a great number of Alabama citizens to participate in the upcoming general election,"
The news that voters may come out in high numbers to vote would be encouraging as the number of voters in the most recent municipal elections were very low.