Democrats 'winning new voters'

Springsteen played at a concert aimed at boosting Democratic registration

Final efforts are under way to register new voters in a number of US states, as reports suggest the Democrats have gained an edge over the Republicans.

Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida and Colorado are among the states where new voter registration ends on Monday.

Both parties have held celebrity events to try to boost voter sign-up rates.

Over the past year, about four million new voters have registered in a dozen key states, with the Democrats gaining the most, the Washington Post says.

Democratic gains in Florida, a big battleground state, have been double those of the Republicans, the newspaper reports.

The registration ratio rises to four-to-one in favour of the Democrats in Colorado and Nevada and six to one in North Carolina, it says.

In Virginia party affiliation is not recorded when voters register, but a disproportionate number of new voters live in Democratic strongholds, the paper adds.

All five of those states were won by George W Bush in 2004 but have been targeted by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama as potential swing states this year.

His campaign hopes that the party's gains of newly registered voters will be matched by a corresponding swell in numbers going to the polls on 4 November.

The Obama campaign arranged free concerts by singer Bruce Springsteen in Pennsylvania and Ohio over the weekend in a bid to boost voter sign-up ahead of the deadline.

Meanwhile, Republican rival John McCain called on two former American football players to join his campaign efforts in Ohio last week.

Young people, Hispanics and African-Americans are among the groups targeted by organisations encouraging increased voter registration.

Analysts say the long primary battle between Mr Obama and his rival for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton, may work in his favour because more people registered in order to take part.

Some states allow new voters to register up to election day.