California voter registration: ‘No party preference’ increase, Republican decrease

A voter fills out her ballot during early voting before the 2012 presidential election at the Gila County Recorder's Office in Globe, Ariz., on Oct. 26. Voter registration data published by Secretary of State Debra Bowen Tuesday show 17,660,486 Californians are registered to vote and of that number more are registered as “no party preference” compared to the last gubernatorial primary.; Credit: Joshua Lott/Reuters/Landov

Voter registration data published by Secretary of State Debra Bowen Tuesday show 17,660,486 Californians are registered to vote and of that number more are registered as “no party preference” compared to the last gubernatorial primary.

No party preference voters comprised 21.06 percent of the state’s total registered voters, a slight increase from 20.1 percent in April 2010.

Republican voter registration in California also had a notable change, from 30.8 percent of the total in 2010 to 28.5 percent.

The voter data is included in a 60-day report of registration, which reflects data across California’s 58 counties gathered 60 days before the June 3 statewide primary election.
Alpine, the California county with the smallest amount of eligible voters—881—had the highest voter registration, with 86.7 percent of the eligible voter population.

Tulare County had the lowest voter registration, with almost 53 percent of its 255, 378 eligible voters registered.

Of the eligible voters in Los Angeles County, the largest county in the state, 80.1 percent of them were registered to vote, according to the data.


“The clock is ticking and the May 19 voter registration deadline will be here before you know it,” said Secretary Bowen, the state’s chief elections officer, in a statement. “If you aren’t one of the 17.7 million Californians already registered to vote, take five minutes at the newly designed RegisterToVote.ca.gov which is now offered in 10 languages.”

via: http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/04/22/43693/california-voter-registration-no-party-preference/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+893KpccSouthernCaliforniaNews-Politics%2FpublicAffairs+%28KPCC%3A+Politics+News%29

Whites a Minority in California, but still Majority of Voters

Although whites have dropped to well under 50 percent of California's population, they are still a strong majority of the state's voters, according to new studies by the Public Policy Institute of California.

The PPIC reports also confirm the state's shift to dominance by the Democratic Party, even though its share of registered voters has declined to well under 50 percent - largely because the increasing numbers of independents lean Democratic.

The statistical studies of the partisan leanings of the state's registered voters, as well as likely voters, were generated from both official statistics and PPIC's polling.

PPIC's research found that while whites are now just 44 percent of California's adult population, they are 62 percent of the state's likely voters. In contrast, Latinos are 33 percent of adult population and just 17 percent of likely voters. With all ages counted, the white and Latino populations are virtually equal at about 38 percent each.

As past studies have shown, likely voters are "older, more educated, more affluent; they are homeowners, and born in the U.S."

Another finding: 45 percent of likely voters are Democrats, 32 percent are Republicans, 19 percent are independents and 5 percent identify with other parties. But 41 percent of independents lean toward Democratic Party candidates, while 29 percent lean toward Republicans.

PHOTO: Caption: Naomi Johnson, 93, never thought she would see the day that a black president might win as she left the voting booth where she cast her vote for Obama on Nov. 4, 2008. The Sacramento Bee/Randall Benton

Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/08/whites-a-minority-in-california-but-still-majority-of-voters.html#storylink=cpy

New ethnic voters fortify California Democratic majorities

Democrats' overwhelming victory in California on election day was driven by Latino, Asian and African American voters, who made up a record 40% of the state’s electorate, according to exit poll data.

Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll, said that despite the fact that non-Hispanic white voters favored GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney over President Obama by eight percentage points, Obama carried the state by 20 points, rooted in his strong support among the state’s ethnic voters.

Proposition 30, the tax-hike plan backed by Gov. Jerry Brown, also emerged victorious because of strong support from non-white voters. “White non-Hispanics divided their votes evenly ... [but] ethnic voters collectively supported it by 20 points, giving it its entire margin of victory,” DiCamillo said.

The data is an ominous sign for California Republicans, who hold no statewide elected offices and have seen their numbers fall below one-third in both the state Senate and Assembly.

Since 1994, the state has added about 3.5 million new voters. Roughly 2 million of those have been Latino and 1 million are Asian Americans, according to numbers from the Field Poll. Reaching those new voters will be a challenge for the state GOP as they lick their wounds from their latest electoral defeat.

These new voters seem to have a different view about the role of government in the lives of its citizens than many of their white counterparts.

While white voters were evenly divided about whether the government should do more to solve the nation’s problems, ethnic voters, by a 2-1 margin, believed that government should be doing more, network exit polling found.

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-- Anthony York in Sacramento

Photo: Voters cast their ballots in the 2012 election at the Sue B. Dance Company in Altadena. Credit: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times

VIA LA TIMES