Secretary LaRose announces update on party affiliation data
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced Friday that party affiliations have been successfully updated in the Statewide Voter Registration Database based on voter activity from the March primary election.
Under Ohio law, a voter’s partisan affiliation is determined by voting in a political party’s primary election. A voter is a member of a political party if:
(1) they voted in that party’s primary election within the preceding two calendar years, or
(2) they did not vote in any other party’s primary election within the preceding two calendar years.
Likewise, by law, a voter is identified as unaffiliated with a political party if they did not vote in a partisan primary election within the preceding two calendar years. Party affiliation numbers fluctuate based on a number of factors, most commonly influenced by voter participation in primary elections.
Ohio is a decentralized voter registration state, meaning the records maintained in the Statewide Voter Registration Database are provided by the 88 county boards of elections. According to the voter registration and voter history data compiled by the boards, Ohio’s voter affiliation breakdown is currently as follows:
Affiliation Totals
Number of Registered Voters in Ohio: 8,060,554
Number of Registered Democrats: 817,063
Number of Registered Republicans: 1,508,641
Number of Unaffiliated Registered Voters: 5,734,850.
Kept Affiliation
Democrat to Democrat: 441,870
Republican to Republican: 841,266.
New Affiliation
Unaffiliated to Republican: 284,948
Unaffiliated to Democrat: 114,079.
Switched Affiliation
Democrat to Republican: 37,543
Libertarian to Republican: 188
Republican to Democrat: 20,845.
Lost Affiliation (*only includes voters in Active/Confirmation status without a private address flag)
Democrat to Unaffiliated: 302,404
Republican to Unaffiliated: 160,827
Libertarian to Unaffiliated: 1,545.
Ohioans with questions or concerns about their own party affiliation status should contact their county board of elections.
Publisher's note: A free press is critical to having well-informed voters and citizens. While some news organizations opt for paid websites or costly paywalls, The Highland County Press has maintained a free newspaper and website for the last 25 years for our community. If you would like to contribute to this service, it would be greatly appreciated. Donations may be made to: The Highland County Press, P.O. Box 849, Hillsboro, Ohio 45133. Please include "for website" on the memo line.