Voters at Idyllwild’s Town Hall precinct lined up early to vote in Tuesday’s presidential election. Photo by JP Crumrine
Voters at Idyllwild’s Town Hall precinct lined up early to vote in Tuesday’s presidential election. Photo by JP Crumrine

In the final report of registered voters prior to the Nov. 8, presidential election, Democrats have the greatest number of Riverside County registered voters with a party affiliation. As of Oct. 31, 388,859 Riverside County residents are registered as Democrats compared to 366,743 registered Republicans.

The total number of registered voters has grown from 910,000 to more than 1,021,000, a 12-percent increase since May.

Since the June primary, Democrats have increased their supporters by 52,000 voters (15 percent) to take a lead. Republicans have recorded an increase of 20,000 voters or 5 percent during the same period.

On May 23, there were 10,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats in the county. Five months later, after a summer of Donald Trump’s campaigning, there are 22,000 more Democratic voters than Republican.

The American Independent Party, while significantly smaller than the two major political parties, experienced a 16-percent increase to nearly 32,000 supporters.

Voters choosing No Party Preference totaled nearly 215,000, a 32,000-voter increase, or 17 percent.

Within Supervisor District 3, Republicans have maintained their registration dominance. Since May, the number of registered Republicans has increased about 7,000 to a total of 92,224, nearly a quarter of the county total. Democratic registration kept pace with a 6,730 voter increase to a total of 63,528 registered party members.

The number of District 3 voters with No Party Preference increased from 41,530 to 49,641, nearly a 20-percent growth.

Of the more than 1 million registered voters in Riverside County, almost 75 percent (726,039) have requested vote-by-mail ballots. As of the morning of election day, 45 percent (332,288) had already been returned.

Turnout appears to be high throughout the country, including Idyllwild. When the Town Hall precinct opened at 7 a.m., almost 25 voters were waiting to cast a ballot or submit one. The precinct captain acknowledged this appears to be the most voters this early in the past 10 years.

Statewide, the total number of registered voters for the presidential election is 19.4 million, a 1.4 million (8 percent) voter increase since the primary election in early June.

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