By IRN

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois has more registered voters than ever before.

There are more than 8 million residents registered to vote next week.

That’s almost a quarter-million more voters than were registered during President Obama’s first presidential campaign in 2008.

Jim Tenuto, assistant executive director at the Illinois State Board of Elections, said the 8 million people who have signed up to vote are the most ever in the State of Illinois.

“This is the first time we’ve gone over 8 million (voters), and that number will probably climb higher through the rest of the week,” Tenuto said.

Tenuto is quick to note that voters in counties with more than 100,000 people can register and vote on Election Day, so the final count could be much higher.

Tenuto said local election offices understand that higher voter registration numbers likely will mean a high turnout.

“This is a record registration total,” Tenuto said. “It’s safe to assume that the increased interest in people registering will generate a large turnout too.”

Tenuto said he’s expecting more than 70 percent of registered voters to turn out and vote.