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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Record number of voters registered in Spokane County

Addison Havel, 4, of Newman Lake, beams as her mother, Sherri Havel, registers to vote for the first time Monday at the Spokane County Elections Office. Monday was the last day to register to participate in the Nov. 6 general election. “It’s time to be part of the decision-making process. Can’t complain if I don’t vote,” Havel said. (Dan Pelle)

About 400 people came to the Spokane County elections office on Monday to register to vote.

The numbers were far fewer than expected on the last day to register before the Nov. 6 election.

The 400 registrations is down from about 1,700 people who signed up on the last day in 2008.

County Auditor Vicky Dalton said the decline is not a sign of weakening participation. There are just fewer procrastinators this year, she said.

During each of the last three days of last week between 100 and 200 people registered. Many also took advantage of online registration, which closed Oct. 8 and wasn’t available in 2008.

About 11,000 people have registered to vote in Spokane County since Sept. 1, pushing the number of Spokane County’s registered voters to about 281,000. There were about 255,000 registered voters in Spokane County four years ago.

“This is a record number of registered voters for Spokane County,” she said.