Final California Voter Numbers Are Out
Sacramento, CA – Data from the Secretary of State’s Office shows that 18,245,970 Californians, or 76.7 percent of those eligible, are registered to vote in Tuesday’s presidential election. While the percentage of eligible Californians who are registered has remained relatively steady for more than a decade, the raw number of registrants is a record high in the state.
In the past four years, California’s voting population has increased by 941,879.
However, this year’s voter registration figures did not beat the surge of registrations in the 2008 presidential election. State election officials say voter registration always increases in the final weeks before a presidential election, but it was down in September and October of this year compared to 2008. They say in the last election during the final 45 days before the registration deadline, nearly 1.2 million people registered to vote; this year 986,290 people registered in that same timeframe.
“Seeing a record number of Californians registered to vote is wonderful, but there are still too many eligible people skipping the electoral process altogether,” said Secretary of State Debra Bowen, California’s chief elections officer. “Registering to vote is easier now than it was four years ago, yet fewer people actually registered in this final 45-day window than did in 2008. This makes it clear that it’s not just a question of making voter registration easier; it’s really about what inspires people to care about their democracy and be part of the decision-making process.”
The data also found 21 percent of all registered voters have no party affiliation.
Click here for a complete report of the voter registration data.
A reminder, polls will be open on November 6 from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. All ballots, including vote-by-mail ballots, must be received by county elections officials by 8:00 p.m. on Election Day to be counted.
