New Voter Registration Numbers: Independents Surge in Battleground States
Beyond New Hampshire there is a significant political story unfolding – a surge in Independent voter registration.
Since November 2008, in the eight battleground states that have partisan voter registration:
- Independent enrollment is up by 320,657 voters, or plus 3.4%;
- Democratic enrollment is down 834,197 voters, or minus 5.6%; and,
- Republican enrollment is down 334,608, or minus 2.9%
Over the past 2 months, since Third Way’s initial November 2011 report, Independents are continuing to surge while Democratic voter registration is faltering. Republican registration could be making a comeback. Since our November 2011 report:
- The number of Independents is up 59,239,
- Democrats have dropped 8,491, and
- Republicans have increased 44,227.
In the last 4 months of 2011, first in the nation New Hampshire added 3,468 Independent voters and lost 1,658 Democrats and 406 Republicans.
Read our last memo for all the updated state-by-state numbers–including detailed information from New Hampshire. In these battlegrounds, Independents are going to be the deciders in 2012, and the candidate that woos them will win.
