Almost 10,000 new Latino voters in Pa.

A national civic-engagement group is pushing hard to register Latino voters before the November election, and nearly 9,800 new Latino voters have been registered in the state since January, The Inquirer reports.

"Hispanics currently represent approximately 4 percent of the overall Pennsylvania electorate," public opinion researcher Fernand Amandi told The Inquirer. "Going back eight years, two presidential cycles, they were just 1 percent."

As the push continues, many are expected to register as Democrats, which is likely to exacerbate GOP losses in the state. Latino voters went heavily for U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) in April's Democratic primary, but recent polling suggests the surge in Latino registration could bode well for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), the presumptive Democratic nominee.

In a national poll released this morning by Franklin & Marshall College, Obama was leading presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) by 8 points among Hispanic voters.

Most of the new registrants yielded from the civic group, Democracia USA, live in Berks and Lehigh counties. About one-fifth live in Philadelphia.

The group has also registered about 3,700 new Latino voters in New Jersey since January.