Surging Voter Registration for Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has seen a boom in voter registration in the wake of its implementation of online methods, which are now used alongside the traditional paper registration method. Pennsylvania has seen nearly double the number of registrants in September of this election cycle in comparison to the same period of the last election, in 2012. The number of online registrants alone (172,000) is almost equal to the total number of registrants in 2012 (186,000) who at the time were relegated to paper registration. 

This boom in registration comes to a head on Tuesday, the 11th of October, when voter registration closes. The early available information regarding registrants sees a gain for Republican support and a drop in Democratic support, both at 3 percent respectively. However, the voter totals still sees a larger number (4.1 million) of registered Democrats in comparison to Republicans (3.2 million) and an additional 1.1 million unaffiliated or third-party voters. 

With Pennsylvania carrying significance as a swing state in recent history, current live polls show that the Democratic nominee holds a double digit point lead over the Republican nominee, and with voter registration coming to a close showcases the significance of both party leaders doing their best to convince undecided voters why their platform would be ideal.

http://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-nation/2016/10/09/Online-voter-registration-surges-in-Pennsylvania/stories/201610090142

Post by Dan Hamann