California: 24% of all CA voters now officially have "no party preference".

[JimDandy]

Democratic registrations are flat and Republican registrations are tanking...

Republican voter registration tanks in California as fewer voters choose a party

Californians may be more disenchanted with political party labels than at any time in modern history, as new voter registration data show another shift away from party affiliation coming at the same time as a presidential race that exposes deep partisan divides nationwide.

The report issued by Secretary of State Alex Padilla on Monday finds that 24% of California voters now officially have "no party preference," the term used by elections officials to describe independents. That's up almost three percentage points since the last presidential election in 2012.

While the migration away from Californians picking formal party labels has been evident for most of the past decade, the trend has picked up speed since 2008. "The Democratic share of registrants has been flat, the independent share has been climbing fast, and the Republican share has been sinking just as fast," said Eric McGhee, an elections researcher at the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.

http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-85981707/

Over 500,000 new registered voters in the state between the ages of 18 to 25

https://twitter.com/jamezdhawaii/status/714988463573995520

ETA: changed title to reflects main article

[Jackie Wilson Said]

1. How many newly registered voters in CA leading up to 2008, 2012? Anybody know?

[kristopher]

2. Good news for Bernie. nt

[JimDandy]

3. Maybe. That percent is substantially lower than the national avg of about 40% independents, though.

[kristopher]

4. It's not the same.

They break the indy group down as there are quite a few parties available to claim membership in. The 'no party' preference is the only one that can get any ballot though and (IMO) seems to indicate an intent to participate in the primary elections.

[JimDandy]

5. True, true... n/t

[TeamPooka]

7. um no. Good news for Trump in the state that elected the Terminator as Gov. - twice.

[rufus dog]

9. I am actually going to switch

And I doubt it is good for Trump. If you pick no preference you can get a Dem ballot in the Primary, but NOT a repub ballot.

[TeamPooka]

10. I'm talking about the general. This is the starfucker state, north and south. nt

[paulthompson]

6. That IS good news for Sanders

Most people who say Sanders won't win in a landslide in California point out that it's a closed primary. But it's not, it's a semi-closed primary. Those 24% will be able to vote this time. Big difference compared to a real closed primary.

Frankly, I don't think the results will be that different from an open primary. It looks like the Republican side will be hotly contested too, so there wouldn't be a significant amount of Repub to Democrat crossover, or vice versa.

And you can register on-line until 15 days before the election.

[liberal_at_heart]

8. Will the Democratic party continue to keep its head in the sand? Will they respond to the

will of the people and change the platform? Or will they just try to keep the "no affiliation" voters from voting? I predict that they will keep their head in the sand and try to keep the voters from voting. Keep it up Democratic Party and before long there will be a very fast growing and challenging third party coming your way. 40% of Americans are Independents.