There definitely has been a big surge in California voter registration in recent days – largely young and Democratic – fueled by the party’s pre-election drives and a new online registration system.

The secretary of state’s office will report final pre-election numbers today, but it already appears that registration could easily top 18 million potential voters, up sharply from 17.3 million in the 2008 presidential election and the 17.2 million counted in early September.

The question that political oddsmakers are asking is whether the registration surge will translate into a relatively high voter turnout, something like the 79.4 percent recorded in 2008.

via Dan Walters: California Democrats hope for surge of young voters.