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New voter registrations hitting record levels

Up to a million new registrations expected
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The rush is on to get everyone registered to vote. The deadline was just extended through the end of the day Wednesday. A record number of people are taking advantage and all those new voters could swing this election.
    

Amanda Pham just turned 18 this summer, and now she's registering to vote in her first presidential election.

"I've been watching all the debates and keeping up to track with all the things going on," said Pham.

As part of the millennial generation, she and other students at USF are some of the most sought after voters.

"People are like, 'Oh I don't really want to vote.' But I feel like if you just leave it up to everyone else, you're not going to have say and you can't be mad at the end of the day," said newly registered voter Andrea Hormaza.

Just like Amanda and Andrea, thousands of people are lining up across Florida to register and make sure their voices are heard this election.

"We've really been killing our goals.  I have total faith we can kill it again today," a volunteer said.

Statewide, Florida is on pace to to hit nearly a million new registered voters.  And groups working to get out the vote are all pushing a similar message.

"A lot of people don't realize how powerful they are and how powerful their vote is.  We're living in the I-4 corridor in a swing state, so our votes really do make a difference, and each individual vote really does count," said Melissa Baldwin with For Our Future FL.

Despite some calls for people to delay casting their ballot and wait for the next political bombshell to drop, those here are encouraging everyone to not only sign up but join the majority of voters expected to vote before election day.

"And then you know you're doing your part," said Baldwin.

Right now, more new voters are registering as Democrats than Republicans, but there's also a huge number of people signing up to vote with no party affiliation.