Local republicans are hoping a statewide voter registration push could return their party to the majority in San Diego County. But Democrats are confident they'll hang on to the edge they first gained in 2008.
Republicans were the majority of registered voters here for more than 60 years until 2008.
The California Republican Party is paying out $5 bounties for each validated new registration.
San Diego's Democratic Party chair, Jess Durfee, doesn't think the county is likely to go red this year though. And even if it did, he said registration bounties can't ensure new voters are dedicated to one party.
"I always question the loyalty of a voter who is registered by somebody who is getting a heavy bounty like that because there's an awful lot of coercion coming from the person doing the registration," he said.
Local Democrats have focused their own registration efforts on neighborhood events and citizen naturalization ceremonies, according to Durfee. Later this month they'll start sending volunteers door-to-door to talk about the party’s candidates.
“We will be out there in large numbers actually talking to voters one-on-one rather than relying on a TV or mail piece to communicate their message,” Durfee said.
As of August 5th there were about 4,900 more Democrats than Republicans registered in San Diego County. The deadline to register for the upcoming election is October 18.
