An upswing in Democratic voter registration makes the party the relative majority in San Diego County, the chairman of the county Democratic Party said today.
Democrats had about 4,000 more registered voters than Republicans as of Sept. 30, according to the Registrar's office. Countywide, about 1.48 million people are eligible to vote.
"While some states are making it harder to register and participate in this election, in California it's easier than ever for eligible voters to make their voices heard," said Jess Durfee, head of the local Democratic Party. "In San Diego, we're already seeing our countywide majority of voters grow, and we plan to turn that into a countywide majority of votes for Democrats on November 6."
He credited an online registration system recently begun by the Secretary of State's office.
Tony Krvaric, who leads the Republican Party in San Diego County, told City News Service he expects to see the voter rolls fluctuate and remain close, and believes the Democrats are benefiting from a paid registration effort.
"At the end of the day, the key will be who shows up to the polls, and we are confident Republicans will outperform registration by a healthy margin, regardless of who ends up with the final advantage in county voter registration,'' Krvaric said.
The GOP held a slight lead last month, its first in two years.
According to the Registrar's figures, there were 518,463 registered Democrats in San Diego County as of Sunday, a jump of about 8,000 since last month. Republicans added 4,000 voters to rolls for a total of 514,582. Another 372,697 registered voters declined to state a party preference.
