Last week, Secretary of State Alex Padilla released the latest voter registration data as of Feb. 10, and 79.1 percent of eligible Californians have registered to vote. Four years ago in February 2015, 72.7 percent of eligible voters were registered.
Last month, 19,978,450 Californians were registered to vote, an increase of about 280,000 voters since the November election. Padilla believes the number now exceeds 20 million. For the November 2018 gubernatorial election, 19.6 million voters were registered in the state.
In the past three months, the number of registered Democrats increased 56,000, to a total of 8.6 million.
But the fastest-growing choice was “No party preference.” Since October, more than 200,000 individuals have chosen independence rather than either of the major parties or any minor party.
The 5.6 million “no preference” voters are now 28.3 percent of total registered voters. Democrats are 43.1 percent of registered voters and Republicans have fallen to 23.6 percent.
The 4,709,851 Republicans are 26,000 fewer than those registered for the gubernatorial election in November and the fewest total Republicans since before 1998.
In Riverside County, the number of registered voters increased by almost 25,000 to 1.06 million, with 71 percent eligible voters.
Democrats gained about 5,000 voters, Republicans lost 600 and the “no preference” choice grew by 17,500 voters, now representing 25.7 percent of total registered voters.
In the county, Democrats are 36.8 percent and Republicans remain second at 32.1 percent of registered voters, both a slight drop from October.
The number of registered voters in the 3rd Supervisorial District increased by about 5,100, but the 4th District saw registration grow by 6,100 voters.
In the 3rd District, the largest grow was the “no preference,” which added 3,600 voters to 62,200. Democrats have 1,100 more registered voters and Republicans saw a decrease of 43 voters, but remained the largest registered party in the district. There are 87,228 Republicans in the 3rd District and the second-highest registered total is 69,853 in the 1st District.
The 3rd District also houses the largest number of “no preference” voters in the county.
“Voters who have already registered to vote should make sure their voter registration is up to date — including your address, political party, and vote-by-mail preference. With next year’s presidential primary fast approaching, verifying your political party preference is critical,” Padilla advised.
Californians can register to vote or update their voter registration online at registertovote.ca.gov, and Californians can check their voter registration status — including political party and vote-by-mail preferences — at voterstatus.sos.ca.gov.
