‘Decline to state’ is all the rage

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California voters are declining to sign on with a political party in record numbers.

The latest registration figures, released by Secretary of State Debra Bowen Thursday morning, show declined-to-states account for more than 20% of those registered. Bowen’s office said the figures show there will be more voters not affiliated with a political party than ever before eligible to cast ballots in the June 8 primary.

Bowen also reported that the number of voters in California is up to 16.9 million – 1.6 million more than there were at this time four years ago.

Even as registering as ‘decline to state’ is on the rise, the Democratic Party has managed to pick up a bigger share of the electorate than it had four years ago, increasing from 42.7% to 44.6%. The trend was the reverse for the GOP. The percentage of Californians registered as Republicans has dropped from 34.6% to 30.8% since 2006.

Bowen’s full report can be read here.

--Evan Halper in Sacramento