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Politics

GOP Narrows Gap Among Florida's Registered Voters

August 5, 2012 - 6:00pm

Republicans have seen their rank and file numbers grow this year in Florida by a near 3-to-1 clip against the Democrats, which remains the states largest political party in terms of overall registered voters.

While Republicans dominate the state Legislature, there are now 4,581,056 registered Democratseligible to vote in the Aug. 14 primary in Florida and 4,137,890 Republicans, according to the state Division of Elections.

Since the January primary, the Republicans have added 74,037 voters across the state.

There have been public calls out for people to switch parties in order to vote in closed primaries, with the GOP having more congressional and legislative primaries than the Democrats across the state.

The Republican Party of Florida, however, views the numbers as a shift in the views of Florida voters.

We think it has more to do with Floridians becoming disenchanted with Obama, his administration and his failed policies, said RPOF spokeswoman Kristen McDonald.

Representatives of the Florida Democratic Party were not immediately available for comment.

The Democrats have seen their ranks increase 27,493.

Of the states now 11,447,540 registered voters, 2,385,323 have no party affiliation.

The NPAs have grown by 114,504 since Jan. 3, when the books closed for the Jan. 31 primary, while the overall total is up 205,418 for the overall vote count.

The last day to register to vote in the primary was July 16.

The changes in party numbers also may be a reflection of the reduction in minor party options.

Last year, the state began to eliminate political parties in Florida with fewer than 5 percent of the states registered voters that could not comply with new guidelines set by legislators in 2011.

Among the parties dropped since January were the Christian Party, Conservative Party of Florida and Independent Democrats of Florida. The Christian Party accounted for 1,034 voters, the Conservative Party had 190.The Independent Democrats of Florida had more than 7,350 registered voters.

Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.

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