Thousands of Pennsylvania voters are switching parties before the April primary, state and county election records show.
Most of the switchers are going to the Democrats, 51 percent statewide, compared to 29 percent for the Republicans, based on nearly 15,000 voters who changed in January.
"That's not surprising to me," said Mary Isenhour, executive director of the state Democratic Committee.
The trend is a sign that voters are looking for change, and she expects the shift to accelerate after last Tuesday's primaries failed to produce a clear front-runner on the Democratic ticket.
The close contest between U.S. Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton will attract more voters to the Democratic primary, perhaps even more so now that U.S. Sen. John McCain has taken a commanding lead on the GOP side, election observers said.
The pattern is just as strong in the five-county midstate region, where Democrats picked up 53 percent of the 1,300 voters who changed parties in January, compared to 36 percent for Republicans. The numbers are based on election records for Cumberland, Dauphin, Lebanon, Perry and York counties.
The trend toward the Democrats doesn't worry John McNally, chairman of the state Republican Committee's Voter Registration Committee and chairman of the Dauphin County GOP.
"It's a natural ebb and flow," he said. "It would be irresponsible to read anything into that."
McNally said the trend might balance out if voters who are registered as independent cross over to support Republican John McCain.
The deadline to register to vote or change your registration is March 24. Pennsylvania's primary is April 22.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2008/02/15000_voters_in_state_switch_p.html
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