The Iowa Secretary of State’s office unveiled its most up-to-date voter registration numbers, which show shifts in voter-registration favoring the Republican Party.
There are now 612,112 registered Republicans and 584,111 registered Democrats in the Hawkeye State, according to the new numbers. There are also 726,819 voters who claim the label of “no party.”
But the most recent state numbers show growth for the Republicans, and also reveal that more of those who switched their party designations switched to join the GOP.
The numbers show that since January 4 the Democrats have gained 2,100 voters who now want to claim the Democrats mantle. The “no party” registrations rose a scant 180 voters. Increases for the GOP, though, are higher than the other two combined, figuring in at nearly three thousand new voters, or precisely 2,954 voters.
The Iowa office also said more Democrats switched their registration to Republican than vice-versa.
During the reported period, 924 Democrats switched their registration to Republican while only 640 Republicans decided to re-register as Democrats.
Democrats lost more voters to “no party,” as well. 888 Democrats decided to switch their registration to “no party” while only 766 Republicans decided to abandon their GOP handle and re-register as “no party.”
Republicans also gained more “no party” voters. The Secretary of State reported that 1,960 “no party” voters re-registered as Democrats, and 2,205 re-registered as Republican.
As of January 27, the state has confirmed there are 1,935,873 registered voters in the Hawkeye State. That breaks down as follows: 586,211 Democrats; 615,066 Republicans; 726,999 registered as “no party”; and 7,597 listed as “other.”
Any voter can decide to vote with any candidate on caucus night, regardless of registration, but the voter rolls as reported by the state reveals a trend favoring the GOP.
The Iowa Secretary of State’s Office, in conjunction with the Iowa Department of Transportation, also launched a new electronic voter-registration system on January 1, 2016. As of Thursday morning, January 26, 5,324 Iowans had successfully utilized the system to register to vote or update their voter registration information.
The numbers of voters registering using the new online system shows a major age gap between those under 50 and those over the age. Those registering for the first time or changing their registration online show that 4,278 voters under 50 years of age used the system while only 1,048 50 and older went online to register.
The online system was utilized by 1,287 voters aged 18 to 24, 1,819 voters between the ages of 25 and 34, and 1,170 registrants between 35 and 49. On the other hand, only 831 voters between the ages of 50 and 64 used the system while only 217 voters over 65 availed themselves of the opportunity to register online.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com
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