NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 5, 2018
CONTACT: State Election Board PIO Bryan Dean, (405) 522-6624 bdean@elections.ok.gov
Voter registration surges as deadline nears
(Oklahoma City) – Oklahoma’s voter rolls have surged since January, with nearly 2.1 million voters now registered as of the end of September, State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax said Friday.
Official statistics from the end of September show total voter registration in the state saw a net increase of 76,256 from January 15 to September 30 this year, with 2,092,413 total registered voters in the state.
The deadline to register for the 2018 General Election is Friday, Oct. 12.
“As Oklahoma's chief election official, I am pleased to see this increase in the voter rolls,” Ziriax said. “There is still plenty of time to register to vote for the General Election. I am hopeful this points to a larger voter turnout compared to the 2014 gubernatorial election.”
Republicans accounted for nearly 60% of the net increase in voters, with the number of registered Republicans increasing by 44,543 since January 15.
Independents saw the second largest net increase, up 23,438 since January. The number of registered Democrats increased by 5,142 since January, while the number of registered Libertarians increased by 3,133.
As a percentage, Republicans now make up 47.2 percent of all registered voters – up from 46.8 percent in January. Independents saw the largest percentage increase, moving from 14.8 percent of registered voters in January to 15.4 percent now.
Democrats are the second largest political party with 37 percent of registered voters, down from 38.2 percent in January. Libertarians became a recognized political party in 2016 and now make up 0.4 percent of Oklahoma voters, nearly double their percentage in January.
As recently as 2014 Democrats had the largest number of registered voters in Oklahoma, but decades-old trends have seen growth in the percentage of registered voters who are Republicans and Independents. In 1990, nearly 65 percent of Oklahoma’s registered voters were Democrats while 32.7 percent were Republicans and 2.4 percent were Independents.
“In 2018 we have continued to see the long-term trend of an increasing percentage of Oklahoma’s registered voters who are Republicans and Independents,” Ziriax said.
Oklahomans have until Friday, Oct. 12 to register to vote or update their voter registration for the 2018 General Election. To register, a person must be a United States citizen, a resident of the State of Oklahoma and at least 18 years old on Election Day. Visit http://elections.ok.gov to learn more about voter registration in Oklahoma.
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