n New Bedford, election workers said, voters came one after another. In Quincy, reporters questioned the large outpouring of people looking to register. In Boston, one man registered both in person and by mail to ensure he would be able to vote in the March 7 primary.
In what some see as a good sign for Republican presidential candidate John McCain, normally low registration for the primary has swelled. Overwhelmingly, voters are either registering anew or switching their affiliation to become unenrolled, said Jack McCarthy, a spokesman for Secretary of State William F. Galvin.
Just as surprising, he said, is the expectation the turnout for the primary may be close to the state's all-time high of 43 percent in 1980.
''All the clerks have been telling me they've had a ton of new registers,'' McCarthy said, and that the numbers of unenrolled will be over 50 percent for the first time.
New Bedford officials are not even sure they have enough Republican ballots. Maria Tomasia, chairwoman of the Board of Election, said the city usually receives about 4,000 GOP ballots, but she said the support for McCain may require more.
In the past week, Tomasia said, over 250 people have come in to register either unenrolled or Republican. By registering unenrolled, voters can choose to take either a Democratic or Republican ballot.
Some of those switching were lifelong Democrats. ''They were changing because they like McCain. They think he's sincere and he can relate to the working people,'' she said.
In Quincy, about 800 people have walked in to either register or change their party. City Clerk Joe Shea said the trend was toward a change from Democrat to unenrolled.
''I assume people are doing this so that they can vote for McCain,'' he said.
On Wednesday, the last day to register, about 700 people showed up at Boston City Hall, said Nancy Lo, chairwoman of the Election Department.
In addition to Wednesday's registrations, Lo said, about 1,000 people registered last weekend when the city held a drive at supermarkets.
''Some people said they couldn't remember the last time they voted, and they wanted to make sure they could still vote,'' Lo said.
Tina Cassidy and Joanna Weiss of the Globe Staff contributed to this report.
