GOP Voter Registrations Outpace Dems

Late last month, the Democratic Data Firm, TargetSmart, found that while New Voter Registrations had plummeted amid the Coronavirus Pandemic, those who were Registering in Competitive States tended to be Whiter, Older, and less Democratic than before.

The Report seemed to confirm what State Elections Officials and Voter Registration Groups had been seeing in the Field for weeks. Neither Democrats nor Republicans had been Registering many Voters during the Pandemic. But Democrats were Registering Less from the Slowdown.

“In some states, before the pandemic, you were seeing a net edge for Democrats,” said Page Gardner, Founder and President of the Voter Participation Center, which Works to Register Young People, People of Color, and Unmarried Women. Now, she said, “in some states … the advantage has shrunk substantially.”

For months last year and in early 2020, Democrats had been Registering Voters at a Faster clip than Republicans in many Competitive States that Register by Party, including: Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, and Nevada. That was in part a function of the Democratic Party’s Competitive Presidential Primary, and in part a Reflection of Animosity toward Trump.

But the effect of the Pandemic on Voter Registrations was Severe. Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Closures, Stay-at-Home Orders, and Restrictions on Large Gatherings, Limited Opportunities for New Registrations. In a Report on the Decline last month, the Nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation & Research concluded that “the steep decline in new registrations may prove to be a sizable obstacle to what was set, pre-pandemic, to be a record election for turnout.”

In-Person Registrations ground nearly to a halt as People stopped Congregating and College Campuses Closed. For People of Color and other marginalized Communities Disproportionately affected by the Pandemic, Gardner said, it was a “perfect, horrible storm in terms of Undercutting registration efforts, and undercutting people’s ability to get registered.”

But, as of June, 2020, U.S. 150,236,000 Registered Voters Shows:

- Independents = 34%

- Democrats = 33%

- Republicans = 29%

- Minor Parties = 4%

So how will those Independents Vote?










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker