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BURLINGTON — The number of people ages 18 through 24 who have registered to vote is greater than the number of people of all ages who registered during the same time in 2004.

The increase appears to be fueled by interest in the fiercely fought Democratic presidential race, which has brought rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama here in the weeks leading up to the state's primary on Tuesday.

More people have been registering as Democrats than as Republicans.

"Obviously, it's the Democratic presidential race," said Andrew Taylor, chairman of the political science department at N.C. State. "I don't think you need to go much farther than that." In particular, Taylor said, Obama's campaign has been credited with fueling interest in presidential politics among both young people and black voters.

Michael Graves, who leads the local chapter of the NAACP, is a Clinton backer who nonetheless credits the Obama campaign with mobilizing people who were previously uninvolved in politics to register and vote.

"I don't care who it is that's getting people interested in voting," Graves said. "With all due respect, I don't care if David Duke's running if people are registering and voting." Graves said he's "particularly happy" to see young black voters register, but said Obama's campaign has been effective in creating an interest in politics among people of different ages and races.

This year in North Carolina, 230,862 people registered to vote from Jan. 1 through mid-April. That was the cutoff to register to vote in the primary on Tuesday, though through Saturday, people were able to register and vote on the same day through the state's one-stop early voting program.

In 2004, 72,120 people registered to vote from January through mid-April.

Young people make up a slightly larger percentage of new voters this year than in 2004, but not by much. In both years, about a third of new voters have been 18 through 24.

This year, unlike 2004, the number of new black voters outpaces the number of new voters as a whole.

N.C. Board of Elections figures show black men and women account for nearly 30 percent of this year's registrations as of mid-April. In 2004, black voters accounted for about 18.5 percent of new registrations during the same time.

Hillary Clinton's campaign has created excitement about the potential for the first female president in American history. More women than men registered to vote in North Carolina in the first four months of 2008 and 2004, though the difference is slightly more pronounced this year.

Nowhere is the difference between 2004 and 2008 more substantial than in how new voters are registering by political party.

In 2004, voters who registered from the start of the year through mid-April included 28,189 Democrats, 23,986 Republicans and 19,945 unaffiliated voters.

This year, new voters include a little more than twice as many Democrats as Republicans, and unaffiliated voters outnumber Republicans among those who have registered so far in 2008. As of April 14, new voters included 109,534 Democrats, 68,795 unaffiliated voters and 52,533 Republicans.

Obama's support among young people is reflected in methods such as ads on Facebook that encourage people to register and vote for Obama.

Taylor Foshee, a freshman at Elon University, is campus coordinator of Students for Barack Obama. Foshee said she and other students have been working to get people registered to vote . N.C. State's Taylor said the voter registration efforts are evidence of how well-organized and well-funded the Obama campaign has been.

Obama appeals to younger voters, Foshee said, partly because he's charismatic and talks about creating consensus.

"He really does espouse that idea that there can be hope and that there can be change," Foshee said.

Of course, not all young people are Obama supporters.

Aaron Dancy, a senior at Southern Alamance High School, started a Facebook group with some of his friends that's called Burlington Young Republicans. Members discuss political and policy issues including abortion, war, global warming, health care and illegal immigration.

Dancy describes himself as a conservative who preferred Mike Huckabee for the Republican presidential nomination but plans to back Sen. John McCain.

Most recent surveys of likely voters have shown Clinton narrowing Obama's lead, though Obama led Clinton by 16 percentage points in a Zogby Poll released Friday.

Obama led by 9 percentage points and 7 percentage points, respectively, in Rasmussen and Research 2000 polls Friday. An InsiderAdvantage Poll released Thursday showed Clinton with a lead of 2 percentage points.