With only a few days remaining before the close of voter registration for the November 4th Presidential General Election, Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk (RR/CC) Dean Logan reported that voter registrations reached an all time high this week, breaking the record set in 2002 when registration rolls exceeded four million registered voters for the first time in Los Angeles County history.
We reached a milestone this week with 4,149,229 registrants on file and that number will continue to increase before the October 20th close of registration. Los Angeles County has the highest number of registered voters in any county elections jurisdiction in the country. These numbers signal an historical interest in the 2008 Presidential Election, said Logan.
The previous record was set during the 2002 Gubernatorial Primary when registrations totaled 4,142,514. Registration statistics for the 2004 Presidential Election showed 3,901,106 registered voters in the County and participation in that election reached 79.10 percent.
Los Angeles County Voter Profile
As of today, 51 percent of all voters in Los Angeles County are registered as Democrats, 25 percent are registered as Republicans, and 20 percent registered with the option to decline to state a party preference. The percentage of registered Democrats has remained consistent since the 2004 Presidential Primary, while the percentage of Republican registrants has decreased by two percent and the percentage of voters choosing to decline to state a party choice has increased by three percent in the past four years.
Daily voter registration activity since June 7th, the opening of registration after the June 6th Statewide Direct Primary, shows that registrations for the November election have outpaced those of every election since 1950, when records were first kept. Current average daily registrations are over three times what they were during the 2002 election, when the previous record high was established.
New Voter Profile
50 percent of voters who have registered since June of this year are between the ages of 18 and 25; 30 percent are between the ages of 30 and 49; and 14 percent are between the ages of 50 and 64. 54 percent of all new voters are female, while 46 percent are male.
56.8 percent of all newly registered voters have registered with the Democratic Party, 15.2 with the Republican Party and 27.9 percent have declined to state a party preference. These percentages follow closely with the youngest age cohort of new registrants. Of those newly registered voters between the ages of 18 and 29, 56 percent registered with the Democratic Party while 14.5 percent registered with the Republican Party and 29 percent declined to state a party preference.
Los Angeles County is the largest election jurisdiction in the United States and has more registered voters than 30 states. It has 4,394 voting precincts and employs over 25,000 poll workers in each countywide election. The RR/CC has conducted ten elections since 2007 including the February 2008 Presidential Primary, the June 2008 Statewide Direct Primary, a uniform district election and several local special elections.
With the phenomenal interest in the election, Logan predicted, voters may experience longer lines or wait times at polling places than in past elections. Where possible, voters are encouraged to vote at mid-day when lines are likely to be shorter. Additionally Logan cautions that election night results reporting could be slow due to the unprecedented number of ballots. We want to emphasize accuracy and efficiency over expediency and we will work as long as it takes to properly gather and tally all the votes cast, he said.
