Oklahoma 'red' state, Dems not dying

NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Thousands of Oklahomans line up for hours to cast their ballots, and many are headed to the polls.

"It was very simple, it took about an hour," early voter Mina Fiberesima said. "There weren't any complications or anything, it was great."

Some voters continued to raise questions about necessary identification and voter registration.

"Some people will have to show I.D. cards at the polls and those are only people who registered to vote for the first time in our jurisdiction," said Doug Sanderson of the Oklahoma County Board of Elections.

To learn more about polling places and voters registration, click on the Election Guide.

"If you're registered, you can vote in any election that you're eligible to vote in," said Michael Clingman, secretary of the Oklahoma Board of Elections.

Oklahoma was not a stop for either candidate on the campaign trail, as the state is statistically solid red, or Democratic.

An estimated 54 percent of every Oklahoman casting a vote is democratic, but polls show most in the state will likely vote for McCain. According to NEWS 9 pollster Bill Shapard, Obama is more liberal than most Oklahoman voters are comfortable with.

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"Democrats here do not look at the world the same way that national democrats look at it," Shapard said. "We are not just a red state, we're red-meat red."

Shapard said Obama saw no need to visit the Sooner state, and neither did McCain.

"One candidate is taking the state for granted, the other candidate is taking it for granted that he has no chance of winning," Shapard said.

Democratic Party leaders said they've registered 25,000 young, new democrats in the past three months and although they're voting Republican for President, the party's not dying.