NEW YORK, NY October 06, 2008 —Today is the last day for voter registration in Pennsylvania. Over the weekend, hundreds of New Yorkers headed out to the battleground state. WNYC's Arun Venugopal tagged along to North Philadelphia with some Obama volunteers.

REPORTER: The bus empties out in the 11th Ward of Philadelphia, one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city. As volunteers prepare to canvass on their assigned streets, organizer Jeanne Heifetz demonstrates the power of freebies, including a dual-purpose Obama brochure.

HEIFETZ: The back of it is a window sign, (Crowd: "Wooooh!") which everybody wants. So, be sure to give them out, and if people are asking you for window signs and lawn signs, this is it, you got it.

REPORTER: Thirty-year-old Tony Hermann hits the streets with three friends, armed with clipboards and voter lists. He lives in Williamsburg, which he said is noted for its apathy.

HERMANN: It's encouraging to see my friends who don't always take an active role in politics or aren't always as passionate about politics, doing something for a change.

REPORTER: Hermann and others spend hours knocking on doors and registering voters. One person who doesn't need persuading is Mike Carter.

CARTER: I have never voted in my entire life and I'm 49 years old - I am voting for the first time. Ever.

REPORTER: The McCain and Obama campaigns consider Pennsylvania's 21 electoral votes crucial for winning the presidency. And the McCain campaign's decision to pull out of Michigan means it will be pouring even more resources into rural Pennsylvania. For the Obama campaign, the hope is that urban voters will actually go to the polls next month and deliver the state to Democrats come Election Day. For WNYC, I'm Arun Venugopal.