February 18, 2014

Both California parties losing ground among registered voters


California's two major political parties are continuing to lose ground in voter registration as the ranks of independent voters continue to swell, a new report by the Secretary of State's office indicates.

The new report, required by law, deals with registration numbers as of Dec. 31 -- 154 days before the June primary election.

Democrats continue to have the highest proportion of the 17.7 million registered voters, 43.58 percent, but that's a more than a quarter-percentage point lower than it was a year ago and a full percentage point below what it was four years ago, 154 days before the 2010 primary.

Republicans, at 28.73 percent, are down slightly from 2013 and have dropped two percentage points from 2010.

Independents - known formally as "no party preference" - have picked up the major parties' losses, up nearly a full percentage point from 2010 at 20.9 percent. The smaller parties have also gained fractionally in the last four years.

Total voter registration has risen from 16.9 million to 17.7 million in the four-year period.

http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2014/02/both-california-parties-losing-ground-among-registered-voters.html