Missouri is one of the battleground states that doesn't have early voting. This year, Missouri is a true toss-up.
Today, the Secretary of State, Robin Carnahan, released new voting information -- and predicted turnout will be 76%. There are 340,000 new voters in the state -- and a big chunk of them are young. From Robin Carnahan's press release:
Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan announced today that 76 percent of Missouri’s registered voters are predicted to vote in the November 4, 2008 general election. This estimate is a compilation of local turnout estimates submitted to the Secretary of State’s office by the 116 election authorities around the state. If the 76 percent prediction is met, more than 3.2 million votes will be cast in the election.
“Missouri voters should have confidence in their election system,” said Carnahan. “Local election officials around the state have been working tirelessly to make preparations for a busy election day. This year, we have increased security checks on voting machines, raised the number of poll workers statewide, and invested in more training for Election Day workers.”
In addition to the estimated turnout, Secretary Carnahan also released the statewide voter registration total for the upcoming election. There are a record-setting 4,205,774 Missourians currently registered to vote, which includes over 340,000 first time voters.
A large portion of the new voters are younger Missourians. Nearly 150,000 of the first time registrants are 18-24 years old, which is more than double any other age group. In both Kansas City and St. Louis City, over 50 percent of the new registrants are 18-24 years old.
