Independent Voters Only Voter Registration To Gain From 2015

voter_registrations_2016Every year, the Oklahoma Election board releases statistics on Oklahoma voters and which party to which they belong. Last year, we noted that Independent registrations had the largest rate of increase over the Democratic and Republican parties. This year, that trend has continued.

In fact, if you look at the change from 2015 to 2016, Independent registrations were the only group to have an increase while overall registrations fell. Looking at a two year change, Republicans also had an increase in registrations, yet it was a smaller increase than Independent registrations.

This year, the Democrats are at an all time low of 832,059, Republicans are at 880,130, and Independents have reached 266,605. Interestingly enough, Americans Elect, which is no longer a political party but a political organization, grew from 9 members in 2015 to 13 in 2016.

These trends show a change in political ideals in the Oklahoman voter. For years, voters have been identifying less and less with the Democratic and Republican parties and showing support for the inclusion of a third party in US politics. These voter registration statistics indicate that Oklahoma voters feel much the same way.

A First In Oklahoma: Democrats Vote To Allow Independents To Vote In Primaries

For the first time in Oklahoma history, one of the duopoly parties have voted to allow voters registered as Independents to vote in their primaries. This past Saturday, an overwhelming majority of Democrats voted at their State Convention to allow Independents to vote in all Democratic primaries over the next two years. This means that Independents will be allowed to vote in the upcoming Democratic Presidential Primary as well as the primaries for all state and local elections.

Oklahoma has a closed primary with an option for parties to choose to open them to Independent voters. Since this became law, neither the Republican nor Democratic parties have made that choice. With this vote, that has changed.

State Democratic Party Chairman Mark Hammons had this to say about the vote:

Today Oklahoma Democrats from across Oklahoma came together for a historic vote to allow Independent voters access to Democratic primary ballots in Oklahoma. Democrats have opened their arms in allowing Independent voters access to have a voice in deciding candidates before they are chosen for them.

If you have hopes that the State Republican Party will choose to follow suit, you might not want to get your hopes up. State Republican Party Chairman Randy Brogdon said Democrats were making a mistake.

He predicted the change would water down the Democratic Party’s base, and said he had no interest in making a similar move in the Republican Party.

“A majority of the independents have come from the Republican party primarily because we haven’t done an excellent job of promoting Republican principles of limited government and lower taxes,” Brogdon said. “We want to give them a reason to come back.”

How this choice will “water down” the Democratic party base is unclear.

This will be a great election for Independent voters. Representatives from both the Oklahoma Libertarian and Green parties have said that they will allow Independents to vote in any primaries they may have in the coming election. If the party petitions for the Libertarian and Green parties are successful, then Independents will have 3 primaries to choose from.

Libertarian, Green parties to launch joint petition drive, asking for volunteers

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