24 Percent Of Voters Registered Without Political Preference

SACRAMENTO (AP) — New state figures continue the trend of the fastest growing segment of the California electorate registering without any political affiliation.

Secretary of State Alex Padilla released voter registration figures on Monday showing almost 24 percent of voters have no party preference.

The report says California had 17.7 million registered voters in February. Of them, 43 percent were registered as Democrats and 28 percent as Republicans. That split hasn't changed since the last count in September.

The major political parties have been losing their share of the electorate in recent years as more people register as independents.

The report also says more than a quarter of eligible voters are not registered. Padilla is supporting a bill to register voters when they visit the Department of Motor Vehicles.

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