Registration Boom

Via First Read and Political Wire:

An AP survey of election officials nationwide found that as of Oct. 1, the number of registered Democrats had grown by nearly 5 percent since 2004 -- outpacing overall population growth in the 28 states where information on voter registration by party was available for 2004 and 2008. During the same time, the GOP lost more than 2 percent of its registered voters.”

More: "In states where registration is recorded by party, including eight key states that could decide the election, voters have signed up Democratic in the past six months by a margin of nearly 4-to-1. Obama could hold Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, won by Democrat John Kerry four years ago, and go on to pick up three states won by President Bush: Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico. He could also narrow the gap in Iowa, as well as in both Florida and North Carolina....

Voter Rergistration Surges in Virginia

From the Washington Post:

With time running out on its push to register thousands of new voters in Virginia, the Obama campaign is picking up the pace. State election officials told the campaign Friday that 49,000 new voters signed up in August, a sharp increase from the 36,500 who signed up in July and the 28,000 who registered in June.

...There is no way of knowing how many of the newly registered will vote for Obama, especially since Virginia does not record voters by party affiliation. But the campaign is encouraged by the demographic profile of the new voters -- about 40 percent of those who registered in August are aged 25 or under.