CA Independents Dwarf Establishment Parties in New Voter Registration

IVN reported last week that a purple wave is sweeping over deep blue California. Independents (registered No Party Preference in California) now outnumber Republicans by over 83,500 voters — and the number is likely to continue to increase, looking at statewide trends.

The latest report from the California secretary of state shows an increase of 168,588 voters from April 6 to May 21. The increase was mostly registered independents, who dwarfed gains made by the Democratic and Republican Parties — comprising approximately 70% (69.7%) of total new voters.

Here is the breakdown:

• Democrats: 32,804
• Republican: 5,332
• No Party Preference: 117,499
• Other (third party / unknown): 12,953

Note: It is difficult to tell what role California’s new motor voter law had on the numbers. The new automatic voter registration system went into effect in late April. I reached out to the California secretary of state’s office, and will update the story with more information.

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The increase in Republican registrants made up a mere 3 percent of the voter gains. In fact, interestingly enough, “Unknown” (included in “Other”) outnumbered the GOP by over 3,300 voters.

What will this mean for the nonpartisan, top-two primaries Tuesday? So many new independent voters could have a major impact on statewide races.