New Democratic Registrations Top GOP

Republicans

Still in Majority

BY FLORENCE GILKESON

Senior Writer

In the final 10 days before voter registration books were closed, both Democrats and independents out-registered Republicans in Moore County.

The county added 302 new Democrats to the rolls, compared to 232 Republicans. Another 289 residents registered as unaffiliated, and 10 Libertarians were added to the voter roster.

Despite a flurry of interest in this year's general election, Moore County did not quite reach the expected 60,000 point. The final number was 59,853, and Republicans continue to outnumber Democrats in final totals.

For a few minutes Wednesday morning, Elections Director Glenda Clendenin and her staff thought the total might climb higher, but an unexpected package of misdirected forms from the State Board of Elections delivered only a handful of new registrations for Moore County.

No evidence of fraud has turned up in Moore County, although the State Board of Elections is investigating about 135 bogus forms in other counties.

Clendenin said there have been a few problems in Moore County, but she has seen no evidence of intentional fraud.

"It may be fraud, but most cases appear to be ignorance," Clendenin said.

As for the group known by the acronym ACORN, Clendenin said she had received no large numbers of registrations clearly identified as coming from this Boston-based organization. The full name is Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, and it reportedly has turned in registrations for about 28,000 people in North Carolina.

One questionable registration form did turn up, but it was from an entirely different source, the National Rifle Association.

Clendenin said the mother of a deceased Moore County man returned the form to the Board of Elections with the information that her son died about two years ago. The form was mailed to her residence by the NRA in an effort to register her son, who had been a member of the national organization. The form had not been filled out, and there was no attempt to register the deceased man.

Apparently the NRA in North Carolina was sending registration notices on the basis of an outdated membership list. The notices came with a letter warning members that their constitutional right to bear arms may be endangered if the wrong people are elected on Nov. 4.

Clendenin said the form dispatched by the NRA had an appearance similar to that used by the ACORN people.