The Pittsburgh Press (October 16, 1944)
3,216,613 register in New York City
New York (UP) –
Registration in New York City for the November election totaled 3,216,613 at its close Saturday night, 173,847 under the record for the 1940 presidential election. But registration for military ballots may raise the total to 3,551,741, a 161,281 increase over 1940.
Both parties claimed an advantage on the basis of the figures.
In St. Louis, Governor Thomas E. Dewey, Republican presidential nominee, said he was “quite happy” about the heavy New York City registration and did not subscribe to the theory that the situation was to his disadvantage.
Military ballot registration figures could not be determined accurately because of considerable duplication, which will be eliminated only as the ballots are tabulated after election.
Paul E. Fitzpatrick, Democratic state chairman, said the registration was “exceedingly gratifying” and “indicates a Roosevelt plurality in the city of around a million without the soldier vote.”
Arthur H. Schwartz, Republican state campaign manager, expressed confidence that the city’s expectable Democratic majority would be sufficiently reduced to assure a Republican victory in the state. He based his relief on the fact that the Borough of Queens, carried by Wendell L. Willkie in 1940 and expected to return a plurality for Governor Thomas E. Dewey this year, was the only borough to maintain its 1940 registration figure.