Beaufort County Democratic Party officials say they could get by with the 400 volunteers they've already commissioned but are hoping for a final tally of 600 volunteers for the Feb. 3 primary.
"The more the merrier," said Fred Kuhn, chairman of the local party. "We'd like to not have people working six- or 12-hour shifts."
Beaufort County election staff will be holding three training sessions over the coming month for the new volunteers.
"That's a service they're providing for both Democrats and Republicans," Kuhn said. "Their hope is by training poll volunteers those same people will work the general election. So it's a win-win situation."
While local leaders are working hard to build up volunteer and financial support for the February primary, Kuhn said the candidates are doing a good job of energizing the public.
"It's getting to be infectious," he said. "More and more people who have never shown an interest in politics before want to help out with the primary or are interested in the election."
Candidates Gen. Wesley Clark, Sen. John Edwards and U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich have visited Beaufort County, while U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt and Sen. Bob Graham, who has since dropped out of the race, have visited Jasper County.
Most of the remaining nine Democratic hopefuls also have made stops throughout the Lowcountry.
"Considering the Iowa and New Hampshire (primaries) are still out there I think they've represented themselves well here," Kuhn said. "And I think we'll see more and more of them."
Local Democratic party member Anne Pollitzer also said she expects the candidates to make a stronger showing in the Lowcountry after the Jan. 19 Iowa caucus and the Jan. 27 New Hampshire primary.
"I feel like (the candidates are) concentrating on the high density areas like Charleston, Columbia and Greenville," she said. "Hopefully they will branch out some more."
The Democratic hopefuls will have to come out in force if they hope to override the tide of Republican domination in Beaufort County over the past two presidential elections.
In 1996 Republican Sen. Bob Dole took 53 percent of the county's vote while 41 percent of voters cast their ballots for Democratic President Bill Clinton.
Republicans widened their margin of victory in 2000 when 58 percent of the county's voters cast ballots for Republican President George W. Bush and 40 percent for Al Gore.
Although South Carolina residents aren't required to register by party, making February's primary open to all registered voters, turnout for Democratic primaries traditionally has been low and Beaufort County has seen only a handful of voters cast ballots in the past two Democratic primaries.
In 1992, less than 1 percent of the county's registered voters, 149 people, turned out to vote in the Democratic primary, the second lowest turn out in the state. Statewide about 20 percent of South Carolina's registered voters cast their ballots in that race.
In 2000, 2 percent, or 1,266 Beaufort County voters, cast ballots in the Democratic primary compared with about 9 percent statewide.
Pollitzer said the first-in-the-South distinction tied to this year's primary, which will be held five months earlier than the 2000 primary, will pique the interest of area voters.
"I feel like the thing that's really generating energy here is we're the first in the South," she said. "Because of that a number of the candidates have been seeking the African-American vote and are raising interest from the African-American communities."
While neither Kuhn nor Pollitzer would say who they think would come away with the Democratic nod at the end of the primary season, both agreed that candidate would receive the full support of Beaufort County's Democratic machine.
"Everyone is getting ready to support whoever is nominated," Pollitzer said. "I like a lot of the candidates and I think all of them would be better than George Bush."