Raleigh, N.C. — Wake County's Board of Elections workers stayed busy over the weekend processing thousands of voter registration applications in time for the state’s May 6 primary.

About a dozen employees were working to verify voter information.

“One of the most important things on our voter registration form is that the U.S. citizenship box has been checked,” said worker Irene Kopens.

Kopens said campaign organizers have been bringing in full boxes of registrations. In the five days leading up to the registration deadline, the group collected 16,000 forms to register or change voter information.

“It has never been like this in my 17 years for a primary,” said Cherie Poucher, Wake Board of Elections Director.

The piles of paperwork must be scanned, typed in and proofread by Tuesday, so the information can make it into books placed at polling places in 200 precincts.

Elections officials say there will likely be more than 550,000 registered Wake voters, which is a 35,000 increase from October.

Part of the credit for the surge in voter registration goes to the draw-out Democratic presidential race in which North Carolinians could make a difference.

“In the past, our primary has been so late that people have said ‘why bother?’ But now, they are going to bother,” Kopens said.