This is the second part in my continuing series collecting together the lastest voter registration numbers in various key states for this fall's coming Presidential election. I gained all the information listed below from government databases available for the public. As you will notice when reviewing the numbers, some states do not provide breakdown of voter registration by party. Some do, however, breakdown registration by race. Given the wide gap in support (as exhibited by polls) of support for Senator Obama by African-Americans, I have used this measure as a proxy for new Democratic party registration in those states that do not give partisan breakdown. Some states, however, do not even give this type of breakdown, leaving me to simply report the raw numbers without any indication who these newly registered voters are (Dems, Reps., Independents, etc.,). Even more problematic some states (Ohio being the most glaring example) do not even give out voter registration numbers that are more current than the 2006 mid-term elections. With that said, here are the numbers:
One caveat: When I use the word latest numbers I do not necessarily mean that I have the June voter registration numbers for all the states listed below, just the last numbers that have come out for those states.
North Carolina: As of May 31, 2008, there were 2,634,509 registered Dems, 1,933,174 registered Reps, and 1,245,279 Independents. As of July 5, 2008, the number is 2,640,850 Dems, 1,934,505 Reps, and 1,253,102 Independents. That means through the month of June, Dems gained 6,500 registered voters, Reps gained 1,400 voters, and Independents gained nearly 8,000 voters. Interestingly, as of May 31, 2008, there were 1,204,518 registered African-Americans in North Carolina, but as of July 5, 2008, that number was 1,207,398, roughly a 3,000 increase through the month of June. Given that Dems gained about 6,500 new voters over the month of June, it shows that Dems were able to register twice as many non-African-American voters in the month of June (assuming that most, if not all, of the new African-American registrants were Dems), than the Reps.
Iowa: As of June 2, 2008, there were 664,031 registered Dems, 577,914 registered Reps, and 685,106 registered Independents. As of July 1, 2008, there are 673,833 registered Dems, 583,614 registered Reps, and 675,860 registered Independents. That means through the month of June, Dems added approximately 10,000 more registered voters, Reps added approximately 6,000 registered voters, and Independents lost 10,000 registered voters.
New Mexico: As of May 23, 2008, there were 543,615 registered Dems, 354,272 registered Reps, and 161,116 registered Independents. Compared to the numbers from January, 2008, that is an increase of 27,207 in Dem voters, an increase of 12,926 in Rep voters, and an increase of 11,805 in Independent voters.
Alaska: As of June 3, 2008, there were 72,076 registered Dems, 119,315 registered Reps, and 178,876 registered Independents. As of July 7, 2008, there are 72,667 registered Dems, 119,813 registered Reps, and 180,019 registered Independents. That means that voter registration basically flatlined in Alaska through the month of May with Dems only netting 600 more voters, Reps gaining 500 more voters, but with Independents netting 1,500 more voters.
Oregon: As of April, 2008, there were 869,538 registered Dems, 676,895 registered Reps, and 412,842 registered Independents. As of May, 2008, there are 869,010 registered Dems, 671,304 registered Reps, and 405,650 registered Independents. That means through the month of April Dem registered voter numbers stayed pretty constant (losing only 500 registered voters) but Reps (-6,000) and Independents (-7,000) lost a significant number of voters.
South Carolina: As of June 2, 2008, there were 2,340,773 registered voters (of any party) in South Carolina. Of that number 666,566 were African-Americans. As of June 30, 2008, there are 2,364,000 registered voters (of any party) in South Carolina, an increase of 24,000 over the month of June. Of that June 30th number, 675,000 were African-Americans, an increase of roughly 9,000 over the month of June.
Georgia: As of May, 2008, there were 4,702,711 registered voters (of any party) in Georgia. Of that number 1,314,755 were African-Americans. As of July, 2008, there are 4,741,498 registered voters total in Georgia, an increase of approximately 39,000 registered voters in the month of June. Of that July number 1,330,751 were African-American voters, an increase of approximately 16,000 from that in May.
Virginia: As of April 1, 2008, there were 4,670,178 registered voters in Virginia. Unfortunately, Virginia does not breakdown its voter registration numbers by party or race. As of June 2, 2008, there were 4,699,112 registered voters in Virginia, an increase of approximately 29,000 voters over the two month period from April.
Indiana: As of April 30, 2008, there are 3,912,413 Active registered voters in Indiana. Unfortunately, Indiana also does not breakdown its voter registration numbers by party or race, nor has it provided an update in its voter registration numbers since April. When it does so I will publish a diary indicating what changes have occurred, if any, because of voter registration drives in the state.
Louisana: As of June 2, 2008, there were 1,512,083 registered Dems (of whom 691,176 were African-Americans), and 720,287 registered Reps. As of July 7, 2008, there are 1,525,915 registered Dems, an increase of almost 14,000 from the numbers in June. Of that number 705,120 were African-Americans, an increase of almost 14,000 from the numbers in June. This means that the bump up in Dem registered voters in Louisana through the month of June came exclusively from newly registered African-American voters. As of July 7, 2008, there are 722,420 registered Reps., an increase of almost 2,000 from June.
Minnesota: As of March 27, 2008, there are 3,091,748 registered voters in Minnesota. Unfortunately, Minnesota does not breakdown its voter registration numbers by party or race, nor has it provided an updated voter registration total since March 27, nearly four months ago.
Michigan: As of January, 2008, there are 7,141,914 registered voters in Michigan. Again Michigan does not break down its voter registration numbers by race or party. The Michigan Secretary of State website, however, does show that it will be releasing new voter registration numbers sometime this month.
Colorado: The Colorado Secretary of State issued new voter registration numbers on June 30, 2008. Unlike past publications, the Colorado Secretary of State is providing both active registered voters as well as inactive ones. In the past, the Colorado Secretary of State only gave a single number (broken down by party) that combined active and inactive voters. Trying to compare apples to apples, I have gone through the last numbers put out on June 30, 2008, combined the separated active and inactive numbers and then compared them to the same number from the last release in April. Any increase in numbers I'm attributing to newly registered voters (I doubt most of any increase in voters will be because more people decided to go inactive). Anyway, as of June 30, 2008, there are 717,495 active registered Dem. voters and 785,115 active registered Rep. voters. When combined with the inactive voters, there was 932,503 Dem voters and 1,019,446 Rep voters as of June 30th. Back on April 9, 2008, there was a combined total of 900,823 Dem voters and 1,017,738 Rep. voters. Thus, for the two months since April, Dems have added roughly 32,000 voters to the rolls while Reps have added only 1,500. That is simply amazing work.
Nevada: As of April, 2008, there were 449,002 active registered Dem voters in Nevada, 398,229 active registered Rep. voters, and 144,785 active registered Independent voters. As of June, 2008, there are 446,003 active registered Dem. voters, 390,443 active registered rep. voters, and 144,489 active registered Independent voters. This shows that both the Dems (-3,000) and the Reps (-8,000) lost a significant number of active registered voters while Independents stayed fairly constant (-300).
Florida: The last number put out by the Florida Secretary of State was in April, 2008. At that time there were 4,268,874 registered Dems, 3,879,747 registered Reps, and 1,910,591 registered Independents. Whenever new numbers are released for the state I will put out a separate diary indicating what changes if any have occurred because of voter registration drives in the state of Florida.