A record number of Ohioans are registered to vote for the Nov. 4 election, when officials are predicting a record voter turnout with the hard-fought presidential race in the Buckeye State.

Nearly 8.2 million people are registered in Ohio, after 665,949 new voters were added to the rolls since the beginning of the year, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner announced today after Monday's registration deadline.

That means about 94 percent of all eligible voters in Ohio are registered, based on U.S. Census estimates of Ohioans 18 years and older as of July 2007.

Brunner is predicting 80 percent voter turnout this fall, which would mean 6.5 million Ohioans would cast ballots. By comparison, 5.7 million votes were cast in the 2004 presidential election in the state.

Voting already has started in Ohio with the casting of absentee ballots starting last Tuesday. Both presidential campaigns have been making a strong push not only to register voters but to get them to vote early.

mniquette@dispatch.com