umbers eager to play their part in making history in the 2008 White House race. The prospect of the country electing either its first woman president or its first African-American leader has galvanized Democrats from the sun-soaked shores of southern Florida to the snowy streets of northern Michigan.
Even on the Republican side turnout is well up in those primaries so far staged when usually just the party faithful vote, promising record numbers may take part in next week's Super Tuesday.
It may even be that all historical records could be smashed when the country as a whole turns out for the November presidential elections to replace President George W. Bush, at the end of his two terms in office.
"In both parties we are seeing a real competition, a proper contest," said Chris Dreibelbis, from the non-profit organization the Reform Institute.
"In years past, in both parties the person who was perceived as the anointed front-runner has almost always been seen as a done deal. Here we have a much more open race, and the competition is drawing more people to the polls."
Historically, the United States has been known for its voter apathy, but participation has been steadily rising in the past decade.
It reached its highest percentage level since 1968 in the last presidential elections in 2004 when 120 million Americans voted, nearly 60 percent of the eligible electorate.
That is still on the low side though when compared to other countries. Some 85.3 percent of registered voters cast their ballots in France's presidential elections last year, for example.
But across the U.S. there is a sense that change is in the air, after eight years of Bush, whose popularity has sunk to some of the lowest levels of any U.S. president amid anger over the Iraq war and the sputtering economy.
"Discontent with the country, that is why voter participation is so high, particularly on the Democratic side," said Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center.
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