Increase In Unaffiliated Voters Not Just Nevada

September was National Voter Registration Month so I thought what better time to look at the national trend of voters registered with no party affiliation.

There are 31 states plus the District of Columbia that require voters to select party preference when registering to vote. Using the most recent available data (September 2013 and September 2014 if possible); 2013 numbers were not available in Kentucky and Utah while Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island did not have data for 2014 available on their web sites, the average percent of voters not registered in any political party is 26.7. The highest percentage is in Alaska where 53.8% of voters are unaffiliated while the lowest is Pennsylvania at 8.1%. The median is 23.3%. Nevada is at 19.1%.

How about the rate of change? Using the same data:

                                    Dem                Rep                  Unaffiliated

Average change          -0.3%               +0.3%              -.02%

Median change            -0.5%               -0.1%               +0.5%

Low                             -2.1% (NV)     -0.7% (CA)     -6.9% (ID)*                

High                            +4.7% (MD)    +5.9% (ID)      +2.2% (CA)

Nevada                        -2.1%               +0.4%              +1.5%

* Drop from 59.4% to 52.5%

I've highlighted the trend in Nevada over the past three months. We are not alone. This is a national trend that shows no signs of slowing down.

By passing the Nevada Election Modernization and Reform Act (NEMRA), our state has the opportunity to adjust to this new political reality. Legislators can demonstrate the belief that all voters are equally important, that their opinions and votes matter as they make the decisions that will guide Nevada into the future.

	Dem 9/13	Dem 9/14	Change	Rep 9/13	Rep 9/14	Change	NP 9/13	NP 9/14	Change
AK	14.3%	13.9%	-0.4%	27.3%	26.9%	-0.4%	53.1%	53.8%	0.7%
AZ	29.9%	29.1%	-0.8%	35.0%	34.6%	-0.4%	34.1%	35.5%	1.4%
CA	43.9%	43.4%	-0.5%	28.9%	28.2%	-0.7%	20.9%	23.1%	2.2%
CO	31.5%	30.7%	-0.8%	32.4%	32.5%	0.1%	34.8%	35.4%	0.6%
DE	47.7%	47.5%	-0.2%	28.3%	28.1%	-0.2%	24.0%	24.4%	0.4%
FL	40.1%	39.0%	-1.1%	35.6%	35.1%	-0.5%	21.6%	23.0%	1.4%
ID	7.6%	8.4%	0.8%	32.4%	38.3%	5.9%	59.4%	52.5%	-6.9%
IA	31.7%	31.2%	-0.5%	31.7%	32.2%	0.5%	36.4%	36.4%	0.0%
KS	25.0%	24.3%	-0.7%	44.6%	44.1%	-0.5%	29.8%	30.8%	1.0%
LA	47.6%	46.9%	-0.7%	27.7%	27.7%	0.0%	24.7%	25.4%	0.7%
ME	31.8%	32.0%	0.2%	27.1%	27.3%	0.2%	37.1%	36.8%	-0.3%
MD	55.8%	60.5%	4.7%	26.0%	28.0%	2.0%	16.6%	10.7%	-5.9%
NE	32.1%	32.2%	0.1%	47.9%	48.3%	0.4%	19.6%	20.1%	0.5%
NV	42.0%	39.9%	-2.1%	34.3%	34.7%	0.4%	17.6%	19.1%	1.5%
NH	27.3%	27.2%	-0.1%	30.2%	30.1%	-0.1%	42.4%	42.7%	0.3%
NJ	33.2%	32.9%	-0.3%	19.9%	19.8%	-0.1%	46.8%	47.2%	0.4%
NM	47.0%	47.0%	0.0%	31.0%	31.0%	0.0%	19.0%	19.0%	0.0%
NY	49.5%	49.6%	0.1%	24.2%	24.0%	-0.2%	20.4%	20.4%	0.0%
NC	42.6%	41.9%	-0.7%	30.7%	30.5%	-0.2%	26.4%	27.3%	0.9%
OK	45.5%	44.7%	-0.8%	42.4%	43.2%	0.8%	12.1%	12.1%	0.0%
OR	39.1%	38.4%	-0.7%	30.7%	30.4%	-0.3%	22.8%	23.5%	0.7%
PA	49.8%	49.6%	-0.2%	36.9%	36.7%	-0.2%	13.3%	8.1%	-5.2%
SD	35.2%	33.9%	-1.3%	45.7%	46.2%	0.5%	18.8%	19.4%	0.6%
WV	51.7%	49.7%	-2.0%	28.7%	28.8%	0.1%	17.6%	19.2%	1.6%
WY	21.0%	19.9%	-1.1%	64.4%	66.4%	2.0%	13.8%	12.8%	-1.0%
DC	75.7%	76.1%	0.4%	6.2%	6.1%	-0.1%	17.0%	16.7%	-0.3%
avg		38.1%	-0.3%		33.0%	0.3%		26.7%	-0.2%
median		38.7%	-0.5%		30.8%	-0.1%		23.3%	0.5%
min		8.4%	-2.1%		6.1%	-0.7%		8.1%	-6.9%
max		76.1%	4.7%		66.4%	5.9%		53.8%	2.2%