NEW YORK -- The fiercely contested U.S. presidential race is expected to bring out as many as a record 121 million voters Tuesday, the New York Times reported.
Nationally, Democrats and Republicans each claim to have a million volunteers. Democrats said they made 23.5 million calls and knocked on 8 million doors for Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry. Republicans said they had contacted 18 million voters on behalf of President George Bush.
Many employers are giving workers time off to vote, while one in New York is offering an extra vacation day as a reward for voting. A Pennsylvania professor is giving students extra credit for casting a ballot, and one in New Jersey was reportedly making voting a requirement for passing her course, the newspaper said.
Volunteer armies in Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan and other swing states knocked on doors, rang telephones, stuffed computers and mailboxes and arranged such Election Day enticements as free day care for parents, rides to polling places for elderly or disabled voters, cookies, tacos, T-shirts, admissions to swimming pools, and in one case, underwear.
