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Debbie Gentry, community services and promotion coordinator at the East Hills branch of the St. Joseph Public Library, checks over information on Andrew Tunks as he registers to vote Monday afternoon. Mr. Tunks, a Missouri Western State University student from St. Joseph, said he is excited about voting in his first presidential election.

Despite all the presidential hype and a hefty number of newly registered voters, perhaps 15,000 people in Buchanan County are eligible to vote but haven’t registered.

Facing a deadline of 5 p.m. Wednesday to register to vote in the November election, County Clerk Pat Conway’s office is making a final push tonight to corral the procrastinators at 12 locations in St. Joseph and Agency. Anyone who will be 18 by Nov. 4 can register by filling out a form.

“The census data I’ve looked at, roughly 30 percent of the people are not registered to vote. It’s a significant number of people,” said David Tushaus, an associate professor of legal studies at Missouri Western State University.

About 4,151 new voters have registered in Buchanan County this year, Mr. Conway said Monday. More than half of those are under the age of 30.

That seems to reflect a nationwide and statewide trend of increased involvement by young voters, particularly in choosing the next president.

Triple the young Missouri voters showed up for February’s presidential primary compared with the 2000 primary, according to estimates by the nonpartisan Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. Democrats saw the largest gain of young primary voters — from 23,894 in 2000 to 114,863 in 2008 — while Republicans also grew from 47,536 to 75,870.

Mr. Tushaus’ election law students are undertaking a nonpartisan effort to register voters and help as election officials in November. They’ve studied census and voter information to determine voting habits.

“Really, their cohorts are the least likely to be registered,” Mr. Tushaus said. “I believe the smallest (group of voters) was that 18-to-24 group.”

Beyond non-voters, Mr. Conway asks people who have moved to come to his office before election day to update their address and polling place. Those 6,000 “inactives” can cause major election-day hang-ups.

“If they go to the wrong precinct, the problem is they have to vote at their new voting place,” Mr. Conway said. “That will be what causes the long lines and delays.”

Missourians can check their voter status at mcvr.mo.gov/voterlookup/.

Joe Blumberg can be reached at joeblumberg@npgco.com.