Massachusetts voters are expected to turn out and vote in tremendous numbers today, responding to the intensely competitive presidential primaries that brought the major candidates from both parties to the state in recent days, local and state elections officials said.
Secretary of State William F. Galvin predicted that more than a million voters, more than 30 percent of the state's 4 million voters, will show up at the polls, drawn largely by the excitement spilling out of this year's elections.
"You have a torrid Democratic fight and a very intense Republican fight," Galvin said. He pointed out that, among the 24 states that are voting in the Super Tuesday round of presidential primaries, Massachusetts holds a special attraction for the candidates.
It has the fifth-largest delegate count of the states voting today for the Democrats. And both of the candidates attended school here, Senator Hillary Clinton at Wellesley and Senator Barack Obama at Harvard Law School.
The Massachusetts showdown in the GOP is equally intriguing, as former governor Mitt Romney seeks to keep Senator John McCain from snatching away his home state; a strong McCain showing is likely because of his big Massachusetts victory in 2000 in the primary against President George W. Bush.
By the time polls close at 8 p.m., all four major candidates will have made last-minute stops here. McCain campaigned for two days. Clinton attended a town hall meeting yesterday at Clark University in Worcester. Obama was planning to attend a rally last night with Governor Deval Patrick and Senator Edward M. Kennedy at the Seaport World Trade Center.
Romney was heading home to Belmont today to vote before appearing at a primary-night party at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.
It is the first time Massachusetts voters will have a chance to take part in Super Tuesday. Galvin, who pushed to move up the state's primary from March, and other election officials said the change has definitely had the desired outcome, boosting expected turnout and the state's importance in presidential nominating.
"If we had waited until March, the race would have been over," said Boston Election Commissioner Geraldine Cuddyer. "It's going to be nutty. I think it's going to be tremendous. There's so much interest."
"I can tell just from the e-mails and the phone calls, " she added. "A lot of people who have not voted in years are expressing interest in the election. The only thing I can compare it to is the November 2006 gubernatorial election, when we were over 60 percent. There are all kinds of factors: You have the first serious African-American candidate and the first viable woman candidate. And you have the former governor of the state."
She said about 10,000 new voters have signed up since November, including many college students.
Worcester City Clerk David Rushford predicted that 25 to 30 percent of the city's 98,000 registered voters, including newly registered youths, will show up at the polls.
"There is a great deal of interest among 18-year-olds," said Rushford, whose office registered 453 high school seniors last month. "We also have people whose interest waned and are expressing new interest in participating. There are people at all parts of the spectrum being invigorated by the wide variety of candidates who are on the ballot."
Galvin said this year's turnout could meet or surpass that of the 1980 presidential primary, when nearly 44 percent of Massachusetts registered voters went to the polls, the highest primary turnout since records were first compiled in 1948.
In the 1980 primary, George H.W. Bush ran against Ronald Reagan in the Republican primary, and Edward M. Kennedy challenged President Carter.
The number of registered voters has increased dramatically since then, Galvin said, and so has the percentage of voters who are unaffiliated with a political party.
Many of those unenrolled voters have historically been reluctant to take part in primaries because they had to choose a party in order to vote.
This year, for the first time in a Massachusetts presidential primary, unaffiliated voters can take a party's ballot but remain unenrolled. Until now, unenrolled voters who participated in primaries had to renew their independent status after they voted.
Galvin said the number of voters seeking absentee ballots, another indicator of voter interest level, has spiked.
By yesterday afternoon, nearly 77,000 voters had requested the ballots, he said, twice as many as in 2000.
Besides the presidential contest, there are special primary elections for seats vacated by four state representatives. The final election is March 4.
Sean Garballey, Andrew E. O'Brien, and Jeffrey D. Thielman, all of Arlington, are fighting for the Democratic nomination to succeed former representative James Marzilli. The winner will face Republican John L. Worden III.
Democrats Kevin Aguiar, Leo G. Pelletier, John J. Rodrigues, and Tony M. Sousa, all of Fall River, are vying to succeed former representative Robert Correia. There is no Republican candidate.
Cesar A. Archilla of Swampscott and Lori A. Ehrlich of Marblehead are looking for the Democratic nomination to succeed Representative Douglas Peterson of Marblehead.
John Blaisdell and Tanya S. DeGenova, both of Marblehead, are battling for the Republican nomination.
In Melrose, Katherine M. Clark, Guido Federico Jr., and Ronald E. Seaboyer are hoping to become the Democratic nominee in the race to succeed former representative Michael Festa. The winner will face Republican Mark B. Hutchinson.
