Nathan Stubbs

La. bucks national voter registration trend

by Nathan Stubbs

Today’s New York Times takes a look at voter registration numbers from across the country as compared to the 2004 national election. The numbers look very good for Democrats, who have posted gains in nearly every state. In the key battleground states of Nevada and Iowa, Democrats have overtaken Republican majorities of registered voters. Only a few states, including Louisiana, bucked the trend:

In six states, including Iowa, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, the Democratic piece of the registration pie grew more than three percentage points, while the Republican share declined. In only three states — Kentucky, Louisiana and Oklahoma — did Republican registration rise while Democratic registration fell, but the Republican increase was less than a percentage point in Kentucky and Oklahoma. Louisiana was the only state to register a gain of more than one percentage point for Republicans as Democratic numbers declined.

Louisiana’s numbers are undoubtably skewed by the 2005 Diaspora caused by Hurricane Katrina. According to statistics posted on the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Web site, from November 2004 to August 2008, the state’s overall number of registered voters has declined 1.4 percent, from 2,923,295 to 2,881,158. The number of registered Democrats is down 6 percent, from 1,618,431 to 1,518,158. Registered Republicans are up 4 percent, from 700,691 to 732,742. “Other” party candidates, including independents, rose a combined 5 percent, from 604,273 to 639,258.