California Secretary of State Alex Padilla on Monday released the first of three voter registration reports ahead of the June 7 primary election. The report shows that not only does the number of registered No Party Preference voters continue to grow, but the title of second largest voting bloc in California will not belong to the Republican Party for much longer.
According to the report, there were 17,259,413 total registered voters as of January 5, 2016 — an increase of 231,123 from the same point in the 2012 presidential election. According to the secretary of state, this increase is not keeping pace with the growth of eligible voters in the state.
“Only 70.2% of eligible Californians are currently registered,” Padilla said. At this point in 2012, 72.01 percent of the electorate was registered to vote.