Voter registration reaches Hoosier high

With less than two weeks remaining until the Oct. 11 deadline to register to vote in the general election, more Hoosiers are signed up than at any time in recent history.

From top to bottom of the ballot, Indiana voters have a lot at stake. Gov. Mike Pence has joined Republican Donald Trump's ticket against Democrats Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine. Indiana also has close races for the governor's office and the U.S. Senate, while Democrats hope to end the Republican supermajorities in the Indiana House and Senate.

Tame first debate draws few distinctions in Indiana's race for governor

Through Monday, 4.7 million people had registered to vote in Indiana, according to the secretary of state's office. That's the most since 4.5 million registered in the historic 2008 showdown between Barack Obama and John McCain.

While the races themselves are driving interest, social media has played a more active role. On Friday, Facebook began running a promotion to urge people to register to vote and provided links to do so online. That drove a whopping 21,000 people to sign up to vote in Indiana that day, rising to 30,000 through the weekend.

Facebook-owned Instagram will make a similar push this week.

"Going back to 2008, we’ve been reminding people on Facebook to vote on Election Day and directing them to information on where to vote," said Samidh Chakrabarti, Facebook’s product manager for civic engagement. "This is the natural next step. We want people to have a voice in the process, and getting registered means that there’s one less hurdle for them."

The secretary of state's office said that Friday was the third-highest daily total ever for online registrations. It was topped only by March 28 and April 4, leading up to the close of registration in the primary.

“I appreciate Facebook’s willingness to use its platform to encourage everyone to vote and hope Hoosiers continue to do so," said Secretary of State Connie Lawson.

Her office expected the surge to continue Tuesday during National Voter Registration Day and during several registration drives at local colleges planned the next two weeks.

With so much on the line, Democrats and Republicans have been encouraging their supporters to register before early voting begins Oct. 12.

Did presidential debate change the mind of any voter?

“The Indiana Democratic Party and our campaigns are running a robust program, including voter registration, early voting and turnout efforts across the state," said Drew Anderson, communications director for the Indiana Democratic Party. "Indiana had the worst voter turnout in the nation in 2014, and we want to be sure that every Hoosier who wants to vote for one of our Democratic candidates understands every avenue they have to exercise that right."

Republican Party Chairman Jeff Cardwell said his team has been driving voter registration while traveling with candidates statewide.

"We're expecting this race to have a large turnout, similar to what we saw in May during the primary," Cardwell said.  "Indiana is the state that made Donald Trump the Republican nominee — and Hoosiers will turn out again to put Donald Trump and Mike Pence in the White House, Eric Holcomb and Suzanne Crouch in the Statehouse, and Todd Young in the Senate."

Call IndyStar reporter Chris Sikich at (317) 444-6036. Follow him on Twitter: @ChrisSikich and at Facebook/chris.sikich.

How to register

Hoosiers can register at indianavoters.com or at their county office. The deadline to register for the general election is Oct. 11.

To be eligible, you must:

Be a U.S. citizen and Indiana resident.

Be at least 18 years of age by Nov. 8.

Not be in prison after being convicted of a crime.

Live in the precinct where you will vote for at least 30 days before the election.

Source: Indiana secretary of state’s office