Voter registration surging for primaries

WASHINGTON, April 7 (UPI) -- Officials in six of the eight U.S. states scheduled to hold Democratic presidential primaries say they are experiencing a surge in voter registration.

The contest between senators Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Clinton of New York could result in record-breaking voter turnout in those states, USA Today reported Monday.

The late-voting states of Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky and Oregon have all seen an increase in registration, the newspaper said.

Scott Moore, a spokesman for the Oregon secretary of state's office, said his state expects 25,000 more voters to sign up before the April 29 deadline.

In North Carolina, 165,449 new voters have registered for the state's May 6 primary since the beginning of the year.

Kentucky officials report some 21,000 new voters signed up in the first two months of this year.

USA Today says in Pennsylvania officials report 106,000 voters have switched their registration to Democrat while nearly 66,000 new Democrats have registered for the April 22 primary.