By Daniel Lapham
Published on February 2, 2008

Representatives from the Republican and Democratic parties of Canadian County are predicting winds of change will sweep through on Super Tuesday.

Dorothy Riley, Canadian County Election Board secretary, said if the increase in registered voters in the county is any indicator of Tuesday’s turnout, it should be something to see.

“We are preparing for a good turnout, that is for sure,” Riley said. “We have had a lot of new registered voters.”

As of Tuesday there were 58,738 registered voters in Canadian County. Of those registered, 1,148 have registered from Jan. 1 to 29, she said.

“As of Jan. 1 we had 31,550 registered Republican voters, with 679 new registrations since Jan. 1,” Riley said. “As of Jan. 1 we had 20,064 registered Democrats, with 377 new registrations since Jan. 1.”

Out of the 58,738 registered voters, 6,068 are registered as independent, Riley said.

The current number of registered voters in Canadian County as of Jan. 29 is up by 6,886 voters since this time in 2004, the last presidential election year.
“I think a lot of it could be because of the growth to the county,” Riley said.

Regardless of the reason, the evidence for a high voter turnout is being reflected across the state, and leaders of the two main political parties are crediting a dynamic and diverse set of candidates on both sides of the political aisle.

“I’ve only been in this job for about eight months, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I think it is going to be a big one,” said Ivan Holmes, Oklahoma Democratic Party chairman. “Especially since we have a strong following from all three (Democratic) candidates. They all three have good organizations and have people working for them in Oklahoma.”

Canadian County Republican Party Chairman Pete Katzdorn echoed Holmes’ sentiments.

“We are holding our precinct meeting on Feb. 12, a watch party on Super Tuesday and our 3rd District Convention on March 29 at Redlands Community College,” Katzdorn said. “Normally, we do not have this many events in one month. I hope we are going to get a high voter turnout. There is a lot of interest in our upcoming watch party.”
In an effort to help the voting on Tuesday go smoothly, Riley said there are some general tips that will help. The Canadian County polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday for the Presiden-tial Preferential Primary Election.

To begin with, it is important that all ballots are marked with a valid marking — a filled-in arrow — as is shown on posters at the polling place and inside the voting booths, Riley said. If voters make mistakes marking their ballots, they should not try to correct those errors. Instead, voters should return the spoiled ballot to the precinct officials, who will destroy it and issue a new ballot to the voter.

Riley also urged voters to take their voter identification cards with them to the polls.

“Your voter identification card can help precinct officials find your name in the precinct registry, and it may also help them resolve the problem if you are not listed in the precinct registry,” she said.