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Registration gap continues to close between West Virginia political parties

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — New West Virginia voter registration numbers show those registered Republicans or no-party continue to gain on those registered as Democrats.

The numbers, which represent those who will be eligible to vote in the June 9 Primary Election, show Democrats with just shy of 475,000 registered voters (38.6 percent), Republicans with 425,000 voters (34.5 percent) and no-party at approximately 281,600 (22.9 percent).

Democrats held a 188,700 registration advantage over Republicans heading into the 2016 Primary Election but that advantage has now shrunk to 49,953. The registration advantage for Democrats in 1995 was 349,000 voters.

There will be just shy of 1.3 million state residents eligible to vote in the primary.

MORE See latest voter registration numbers here

West Virginia Republican Party Executive Director Byron Fisher said registration numbers for Republicans showed a sharp increase during the time the Democratic-controlled U.S. House was holding impeaching proceedings against President Donald Trump.

“Impeachment was definitely a turning point,” Fisher said Friday during an appearance on MetroNews “Talkline.” “In the month of December, Republicans gained 2,002, January 816, February 2,669 (registrations).”

Fisher said on the day the U.S. House voted to impeach Trump, Dec. 19, 19 Democrats in Boone County changed their registrations to Republicans.

“Takline” Hoppy Kercheval focused on the registration reversal in a Jan. 16 column.

“In 2000, Republican voters made up 29 percent of the electorate. That equaled 310,000 voters. Percentage-wise, that has gradually risen to 34 percent.

The Republican registration strength is particularly evident just since the last election. Over the last four years, county clerks have done a remarkable job clearing the voter registration rolls of inactive voters.

As I pointed out in yesterday’s commentary, that hit Democrats particularly hard. They lost 93,000 registrations, while gaining just 9,600 new voters for a net loss of 83,000 voters,” Kercheval wrote.

Fisher said Friday updating the voting rolls has been significant but he said the support for President Trump has been more significant. He said there are now 21 West Virginia counties where Republicans outnumber Democrats in registered voters.

“There are 18 more where the gap is near 1,000. We are definitely closing the gap,” Fisher said.





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