On Wednesday, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla sent out the latest voter registration numbers, touting a record number of registered voters. According to the report, voters registered as No Party Preference (independent) or with an unqualified political party are close to outnumbering registered Republicans.

Padilla reports that as of February 10, voter registration climbed to 19,432,609. This equates to nearly 78 percent of the eligible voting population. Typically, voter registration declines in an non-election year, but 2017 appears to be breaking that trend.

Here is how the voter registration breaks down:

The number of independent voters alone has nearly caught up and surpassed the number of voters registered with the Republican Party. If the current registration trends continue, the next report will show GOP registration drop below NPP and Miscellaneous combined.

And according to reports published on IVN, dating back to 2014, polling and past voting data reveal that most voters registered with the American Independent Party are registered with the conservative-leaning party by mistake. So while it is not shown in available data, voters not registered with a qualified political party likely already outnumber Republicans.

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