Official voter registration statistics released Tuesday showed the highest total number of registered voters since 2009.
The Oklahoma State Election Board does an official voter registration count each January 15. This year’s count showed 2,161,881 people registered to vote, falling about 20,000 short of the 2009 total.
Voter registration numbers follow predictable cycles, with the highest peaks following presidential elections. The 2017 count was well above the 2,116,186 registered voters from January 15, 2013, a trend that was also evident in voter turnout in November’s General Election.
Long term trends continued to show the share of the vote increasing for Republicans and Independents at the expense of the Democratic Party. Republicans now make up 45.8 percent of the electorate, up from 44.5 percent last year. The Democratic share of the electorate fell from 42 percent last year to 39.4 percent in 2017, while Independents now account for 14.6 percent of registered voters. Libertarians make up 0.2 percent of the electorate after becoming recognized last March.
“It’s encouraging to see voter registration numbers headed in the right direction,” Oklahoma State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax said. “We were pleased with voter participation in November, and these numbers are another positive sign that more Oklahomans are exercising their right to vote.”
Oklahoma’s registered voters:
JAN. 15, 2017
REPUBLICANS 989,358….45.8%
LIBERTARIANS 3,967….0.2%
DEMOCRATS 852,447….39.4%
INDEPENDENTS 316,109….14.6%
TOTAL 2,161,881
OKLAHOMA STATE ELECTION BOARD
HISTORICAL VOTER REGISTRATION IN OKLAHOMA
The State Election Board began recording statewide voter registration statistics by party in 1960.
YEAR DEM REP IND OTHER/LIB
1960 82.0% 17.6% 0.4% N/A
1980 75.8% 22.8% 1.4% N/A
2000 56.7% 35.0% 8.3% *
2010 49.0% 39.9% 11.1% N/A
JAN. 15, 2017 39.4% 45.8% 14.6% 0.2%
*Registration for minor recognized parties or political organization was less than 0.1%.
