Record number of PA residents register to vote

A record-setting 8.73 million Pennsylvanians are registered to vote as of Oct. 20, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.

Of that total, 4.4 million voters registered as Democrats; 3.2 million as Republicans; 458,617 under no affiliation; and 568,065 as "other."

There were 8.36 million registered Pennsylvania voters prior to the 2004 General Election, according to a state press release.

Despite growing reports of voter registration fraud allegations involving the group ACORN, the Rendell administration says it does not anticipate any problems with the Nov. 4 election.

That brought a sharp rebuke from the Pennsylvania Republican Committee, which filed a lawsuit on Friday against the state and ACORN, claiming that ACORN has filed fraudulent voter registration forms.

"The U.S. District Attorney's office is investigating fraudulent voter registrations in Philadelphia and local law enforcement officials and agencies are investigating issues in several other Pennsylvania counties," PA GOP Chairman Robert Gleason said. "Why aren't Governor Rendell and Secretary Cortés questioning the activities of a group that has burdened county election officials with potentially bogus registrations which will prevent legitimate registrations from being cast on Election Day?"

To read the full statement by the PA GOP, visit the party's Web site, http://www.pagop.org