As a sign of the interest in the presidential campaign, Virginians are registering to vote in unprecedented numbers.

Nearly 100,000 more voters were registered by the end of April, according to Nancy Rodriques, secretary of the State Board of Elections.

That compares with about 50,000 at the same time four years ago, the last time there was a presidential election, she said. It also dwarfs the 17,000 new voters who signed up last year, when General Assembly elections were the main attraction.

The increase includes newly signed up voters, minus those stricken from the rolls because they have moved to another state or died.

Virginians have until Oct. 6 to sign up to vote in the Nov. 4 election. Those already registered do not have to reregister.

At least two groups, aimed at unmarried women and young voters, have conducted organized registration drives, Rodriques said.

"Women's Voices. Women Vote," a nonpartisan organization that seeks to mobilize unmarried women, sent a mass mailing in February into Virginia. Sarah Johnson, director of communications, said about 10,000 registration applications had been returned as of April 24.

The organization plans to mail an additional 181,000 forms this week, she said. Experience shows that about 11,000 will be returned, Johnson said.

Statistics show that unmarried women are 13 percent less likely to register and 9 percent less likely to vote than married women, Johnson said.

The second mass mailing was conducted by Rock the Vote, an organization aimed at registering young people. Spokesmen were not available to comment on results.

The State Board of Elections, in cooperation with the Virginia Student Councils Association and the Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals, will conduct a registration drive in high schools tomorrow through May 23.

The Civic Responsibility Campaign will work with school administrators and senior class teachers. Students who will be 18 by the Nov. 4 election day can register.

Young people, particularly, are said to have been attracted to the presidential campaign this year by the "change" message of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

Obama, now the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, launched a voter registration and mobilization drive in all 50 states yesterday. The Virginia event was in Arlington.

The presidential campaigns signed up new voters before the Feb. 12 presidential primary in Virginia, which produced a record turnout of almost 1.5 million people for a primary. More than 24,000 prospective new voters had signed up by then.

There are three congressional primaries, in Northern Virginia's 8th, 10th and 11th districts, on June 10. Monday at 5 p.m. is the deadline for registering to vote in the primaries.

Typically, presidential elections produce a far higher turnout than in other elections in Virginia. In the 2004 presidential election, for example, about 3.2 million people voted, or 71 percent of the registered voters. Two years later, in the tight U.S. Senate race won by Jim Webb over George Allen, about 2.4 million cast ballots, or 52 percent.

Almost 4.7 million are currently registered, compared with 4.5 million in 2006.

"It would be fabulous to have not only everyone registering in Virginia, but going to the polls," Rodriques said.
Contact Tyler Whitley at (804) 649-6780 or twhitley@timesdispatch.com.