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Primary draws greater interest from young adults |
March 27, 2008 - If area registration filings are any clue, Blanton won't be the only young voter heading to the polls for North Carolina's primary.
Participation among 18- to 25-year-olds has jumped significantly from the last presidential primary held four years ago.
In New Hanover County, recent registrations in that age group more than tripled compared with the same period in 2004. Brunswick and Pender counties showed similar jumps among their young voters.
In all three counties, the increase among the youngest set of voters outpaced overall registrations from the last election cycle.
But interest has grown overall as North Carolina's primary is poised to play a more significant role than expected in settling the Democratic ticket.
"We're going to staff our precincts a little heavier for the primary, and we're going to put out a couple extra voting booths if we can," said Bonnie Williams, elections director for New Hanover County.
Blanton said he never paid much attention to politics until a few months ago when he started following the campaigns with the attention of a seasoned wonk.
"I'm interested because we have a lot going on in our country right now," he said. "We have the war in Iraq, and our policy on that is going to shape our future in a huge way." By Vicky Eckenrode, Star News
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