Daily Journal: Turnout this year expected to be 'huge'

I will be very interested to see what the final registration numbers look like for Mississippi. In a year that has seen tremendous Democratic gains on the voter rolls across the country, Mississipp has seen its voter rolls increase as well. I suspect when the numbers are released we will something in the neighborhood of a 3-2 advantage for Democrats in new voters added to the rolls this year.

Yesterday's Daily Journal discussed the gains being made across the state.

Lee County saw 1,500 new registrations on Friday.

"This says it's going to be a huge turnout," Circuit Clerk Joyce Loftin said Monday.

The county's total registration has gone from 51,100 to more than 55,000 - and Loftin says she still has about 4,000 applications to be processed.

That means Lee County alone will see an increase of between ten and twenty percent.

"We've got record-breaking applications," echoed Baretta Mosley, a deputy clerk in Lafayette County.

In DeSoto County, more than 10,000 new voters have been added to the rolls this year – 6,000 since May 20, said Circuit Clerk Dale Thompson.

Marvin King, a political science professor who runs Black Political Analysis, one of my favorite stops of the day while surfing, has this to say about the jump in registration.

Marvin King, assistant professor of political science at the University of Mississippi, said typically these new voters are disproportionately young and minority, and favor Democrats by wide margins.

"I still do not believe this takes Mississippi out of the Republican column for the presidential contest," he noted, "but Travis Childers should welcome this news and it bodes well for all down-ballot Democrats."

He also predicted "a surprisingly close Senate race," if these newly registered voters actually show up on Election Day