California Experiences Dramatic Increase In Voter Registration Without Party Preference
The number of Californians who are registered to vote but are not affiliated with a political party has risen over the past four years, data released Tuesday show.
Despite the shift, registered Democrats still heavily outnumber Republicans in the most populous U.S. state, which recorded 17.6 million registered voters this year, up from 16.9 million in 2010.
Since 2010, the number of California voters who say they have no party preference has risen from about 3.4 million to about 4.1 million, the state said, from 20 percent of the electorate to 23 percent.
One driver of the increase is the state’s shift in 2012 to a new system for nominating candidates that allows anyone to vote regardless of party, said Mark Baldassare, president of the Public Policy Institute of California.
Under the system, the top two vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party, making it less important for voters to declare an affiliation, Baldassare said.
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http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/09/california-experiences-dramatic-increase-in-voter-registration-without-party-preference/
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