Sec. of State Brewer Announces Record Voter Registration Numbers

Secretary of State's Office received one-day total of over 41,000 voter registration forms

PHOENIX -- Secretary of State Jan Brewer announced today a record setting increase in the number of overall voter registrations turned into her office on the final day to register to vote. The Secretary of State's Office stayed open until midnight on Monday answering over 2,200 citizens' phone inquiries and collecting over 41,723 voter registration forms turned in directly at the office and via the Secretary of State's online EZ Voter registration system.

The cutoff for voter registration for the November 4 General Election was this past Monday, October 6, at midnight.

“My office has worked very hard over the past year to get more Arizonans registered to vote,” said Secretary Jan Brewer, “clearly our outreach efforts are making a difference, especially when it comes to Internet voter registration.”

Most of the new registrations came through the Sec. of State's EZVoter system. Arizona was the first of only two states currently in the country with such an online system that specifically allows citizens to register to vote over the Internet. This year's October 6 deadline for voter's to register for the General Election had a single-day record 38,872 people register through EZVoter system, breaking the previous single-day Internet registration record of 21,400 back in October of 2004. In addition to the online voter registration forms, another 2,851 registration forms were directly turned into the Secretary of State's office at the State Capitol.

"Obviously, there is a great amount of interest in this year's General Election, and it is just so important that citizens take the time to get involved in the election process,” added Secretary Brewer, “I am very proud that Arizona continues to lead the country with our EZ Voter system delivering a secure, convenient and efficient way for citizens to register and participate.”

The Secretary of State's EZ Voter system has shown a marked increase in voter registrations under the Brewer Administration. Upon taking office in January 2003, the EZ Voter registration system had processed 6,535 people to vote over an entire month. This past month of September ‘08, the same system registered 105,392 people, the largest one-month total for any primary or general election. Also of note, thus far in 2008, over 60 percent of all people who registered to vote in Arizona did so via the Secretary of State's EZ Voter online system.

"There is just so much riding on this upcoming election, and I really believe these strong voter registration numbers here in Arizona are a tribute to a citizenry that is highly motivated and energized to participate in this year's voting process," said Secretary of State Jan Brewer.  

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