By Erica Ryan
The Associated Press

CLEVELAND - Tera Stockdale was working at a Columbus nightclub on election night in 2000, when the presidential race was too close to call. As patrons discussed the confusion, she heard one say, "I wish I would have voted."

"It hit me really hard that there were people that didn't vote," she said. "I thought, I'm going to do everything I can to make sure people vote next time."

The 30-year-old drummer and sound engineer has helped form Vote Explosion, a loosely organized volunteer group of Columbus-area musicians and fans who register voters at nightclubs and other music venues.

Vote Explosion is just one of the many groups registering voters in Ohio this election season. They range from local grass-roots organizations to national campaigns fighting for the battleground state's 20 electoral votes.

About 7.5 million Ohioans registered for the last presidential election, with about 4.8 million turning out at the polls. As of May, the most recent numbers available from the secretary of state's office, the number of registered Ohio voters was about 7.3 million. That is about 25,000 more than the number registered by July 2000, two months closer to the election.

Campaign strategists see Ohio as a must-win state.

The political parties and national groups characterize this year as their most intense voter registration campaign, and they plan to ratchet up their efforts as the Oct. 4 deadline to sign up approaches.

"This year, we've seen an increase in groups all across the state," said Chris Abbruzzese, manager of voter services for Ohio. He said it is hard to estimate the number of people registering voters, because some groups are highly organized while others are more independent.

Abbruzzese said he's even seen lone citizens registering voters simply out of a sense of civic duty.

Some workers are volunteers, while others are paid to sign up new voters.

Ralphel Penn, 36, of Cleveland, said he works seven days a week registering voters for the NAACP. He goes to festivals and bus terminals around Cleveland to find crowds, and even travels to other Ohio cities.

The Ohio Republican Party learned a lesson in 2000, said spokesman Jason Mauk. George W. Bush seemed to have a 10 percentage point lead going into the election, but he won the state by only 3.6 percentage points.

"We nearly got beat because the Democrats have an effective voter turnout program," he said.

This year, the GOP is operating the "most aggressive" registration campaign in its history, with a goal of 91,000 new Republican voters, Mauk said.

The state Democratic Party is serving mainly as a support network for county-level efforts, said spokesman Dan Trevas, who also cited the last presidential election as the reason for the flurry of voter registration activity.

"We got a big civics lesson in 2000," Trevas said. "People understand from 2000 that every vote counts."

Peg Rosenfield, an elections specialist with the League of Women Voters in Ohio, cites the candidates' fierce campaigning and the close 2000 election as factors in the registration efforts.

"I think the country is very divided," Rosenfield said. "There are very few people who are going to tell you it doesn't make a difference who is elected."

Abbruzzese said the state's efforts to target new voters are concentrated on sporting events, concerts and festivals.

Many county election boards also follow the same route, setting up booths at fairs.

The Republican National Committee uses "Reggie the Registration Rig," an 18-wheel truck with video games, big screen televisions and a karaoke station.

America Coming Together, which supports the Democrats, has about 200 workers visiting homes in Ohio on any given day, said state spokesman Jess Goode. He said the group has registered "tens of thousands" since last September.

Liberal political action group MoveOn.Org has registered voters by phone, said Ohio organizer Katherine Smith.