Montgomery County officials received federal approval Monday to split the county's most populous election precinct in half and create a new polling place.

Faced with what elections officials have called a "tsunami" of expected voter turnout in the November presidential election, the Montgomery County registrar identified the B-3 precinct's 4,700 voters as a liability that could create long lines on Election Day.

The precinct split will cordon off several large subdivisions south of Peppers Ferry Road and west of Palmer Street into a 2,700-voter section. Voters in that section will cast ballots at the Christiansburg Recreation Center instead of the former polling place at Belmont Christian Church. The split will create a new B-4 district made up of the 1,760 remaining voters, who will continue to vote at the church.

Montgomery County Registrar Randy Wertz said the split is part of a countywide effort to reduce lines on Election Day and prepare for voter turnout that the state has warned could surge past 85 percent of registered voters.

"After we had the huge turnout in the February primaries, we started looking at ways to handle lines," Wertz said. "When the most you ever have is 71 percent, 85 [percent] to 90 [percent] is stressing your resources to the very limit."

The 71 percent turnout in 2004 was up from the 67 percent of registered voters who showed up in 2000.

In February, 17.8 percent of registered Democrats voted, pointing to an unusually engaged electorate that only turned out 4 percent of voters on average in past primaries. Republican primary voters also had a stronger showing than average with 5.4 percent turnout.

The county plans to recruit 50 more election workers than usual, participate in a state-run campaign to encourage absentee voting and assign more workers to help voters check in when they arrive at precincts.

Splitting the B-3 precinct, which was nearing the state-mandated limit of 5,000 registered voters, is a "win-win" for voters and the county, Wertz said.

"People will be able to get to a precinct quicker, and they won't be bombarded with huge numbers of people," he said.

Carlean Ponder, an associate counsel for the nonpartisan Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights, said while her group recognizes the need for counties to split districts, its members have been monitoring whether voters affected by splits are being notified effectively.

"Will there be mailings? Will there be media outreach?" Ponder said her group is asking elections officials. "With voter turnout expected to be increased as it is, that's a recipe for disenfranchisement if there's not a clear plan of communication from elections officials to the community."

Wertz said his office hopes to mail out new voter registration cards that include information about the change by the end of the month and will increase outreach efforts as November gets closer.

The voter enthusiasm Montgomery is bracing for is also apparent throughout the state, said Barbara Cockrell, the director of operations for the State Board of Elections. The state has registered 144,000 new voters this year, compared with 19,000 during all of last year, Cockrell said, and voters ages 18 to 25 are "far outstripping any other group."

As a result, the state has set a goal of adding 10,000 more Election Day pollworkers to the 20,000 hired in 2004.

The state's goal is to prevent long lines which might cause voters to decide against casting a ballot. But, Wertz noted, "No matter how much you plan, there's always something that pops up that you don't anticipate."

Still, Wertz said he finds planning for record voter turnout highly rewarding.

"We're right at the forefront of protecting democracy," he said. "It's a thrill to be part of it."