Voter Registration Up 9% for Republicans But Down Overall
by October 11, 2012 5:59 pm 185 views
The deadline to register to vote was Tuesday, so we now know what the total number of registered voters will be this year.
As of Thursday (Oct. 11) according to the Secretary of State, Arkansas has 1,602,031 registered voters. This is actually down from the total number of voters in the last Presidential election year. In 2008, Arkansas had a 1,684,24 with 1,086,617 casting votes for a turnout of just under 65%.
In another sign that Arkansas is becoming redder, voters registering as Republicans this year is up considerably while voters registering as Democrats is flat.
Currently 57,428 voters have listed their affiliation as Republican, which is up 9 percent from 2008 when 52,646 were listed as Republicans.
While voters listing their affiliation as Democrats is still higher, they have not seen the type of growth that Republicans have seen over the last four years. Currently 70,255 list their affiliation as Democrat, up only 0.3 percent from 2008 when 70,047 checked the Democratic box.
“It’s clear conservative Arkansans are finding a new home in the Republican Party and rejecting the liberal policies of the Democratic Party and Barack Obama,” said Doyle Webb, Chairman of the Republican Party of Arkansas. “Republicans have a plan for bold reform to help families and move Arkansas forward, while state Democrats have no plan, no new ideas and simply have embraced the status quo.”
It is important to note that in Arkansas no voter is actually a “registered Republican” or a “registered Democrat.” Since Arkansas has open primaries, voters are not required to state their party preference and most voters – over 92 percent – choose not to list any party affiliation on their voter registration form.
Still, the amount of new voters listing their affiliation as Republicans is good news for them and should be troubling for Democrats hoping to keep a majority in Arkansas this year. This would certainly point to Republicans winning the all important voter registration battle and voter enthusiasm.