Fewer active voters than in the 2006 general election will be casting ballots during the January presidential primary season in Orangeburg, Bamberg and Calhoun counties, according to statistics from the State Election Commission.

Commission spokesman Chris Whitmire said the decline likely is because of inactive voters not responding to cards mailed out to maintain state registration records. The cards were sent out to voters who did not cast ballots in the last two general elections to confirm those individuals are still living at their respective addresses.

People who did not return the confirmation cards will be able to vote but may have to show additional ide.jpgication at their voting precinct to cast a ballot.

Whitmire said the confirmation cards were designed to identify people who have either died, moved or been convicted of a felony.

As of Dec. 23, 51,926 people in Orangeburg County were actively eligible to vote in either the Democratic or Republican presidential primary. That is a 13 percent drop from the number actively registered in the 2006 general election.

According to the State Election Commission numbers, Bamberg and Calhoun counties will experience a 22 and 12 percent decline in the number of active voters, respectively. It is possible for those figures to increase when last-minute registrations are counted in the total next week. The deadline to register to vote in the primaries was Dec. 26.

While the numbers of active voters in the primaries may be down this year, the excitement is not, according to local Democratic and Republican party officials.

"We are very excited that we are a part of the early voting," said Orangeburg County Democratic Party Chairwoman Betty Henderson. South Carolina is the first Southern state to hold a presidential primary, with Iowa, New Hampshire, Wyoming, Michigan and Nevada holding primaries or caucuses prior to that.

The S.C. Republican primary will be held on Jan. 19 with the Democratic vote a week later on Jan. 26.

Orangeburg County Republican Party Chairman Jim Ulmer says uncertainty over a GOP nominee is exciting.

"Its interesting to see people's opinion in that bunch evolve," Ulmer said.

Recent history has seen South Carolina play a big role in determining the Republican nominee. In 2000, George W. Bush won the South Carolina primary after Sen. John McCain won the New Hampshire primary. Bush took that momentum to the nomination and eventually the presidency.

Various polls in early voting states have shown a fluctuation among Republican voters' preferences in the last few months. Currently, the surging former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is leading in the latest South Carolina poll, according to Survey USA. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has consistently led in national polls throughout.

Ulmer said his opinion of the best candidate has evolved as well. Originally, he supported Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback until he dropped out of the race. "I had to go shopping all over again," Ulmer said. He settled on former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, calling him a principled person with a common-sense approach to government.

Ulmer said his organization has not heavily pushed voter drives recently because of the holiday season.

He said he hopes to see some candidates stop in Orangeburg before Jan. 19. Contact has been made by some some campaigns about possible Orangeburg appearances.

Ulmer noted that while Orangeburg is a traditionally Democratic county in a Republican state, the county is important for the GOP in terms of margin of victory.

Henderson said Orangeburg should attract Democratic candidates because 72 percent of the county voted Democratic in the last presidential election in 2004.

"Everybody will be looking to see what Orangeburg does," Henderson said.

Henderson said her organization has been working closely with the various campaigns and has been diligent in trying to sign up new voters with registration drives. Henderson noted that she has not seen this much activity in an election cycle for some time.

Henderson said she has not selected her pick to be the next commander-in-chief.

She believes the South Carolina primary will have a dramatic impact in determining the person to be the next president. "The road to the presidency now goes through South Carolina."

T&D Staff Writer Lee Tant can be reached at ltant@timesanddemocrat.com and 803-534-1060.

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