Strength in Numbers

Battleground-State Voter Registration Gives Democrats Early Edge

The push to register new voters will accelerate throughout the summer and fall, with the parties, non-profit organizations, and the campaigns spending millions to try to gain the upper hand.

Students line up for voter registration forms or a chance to meet with celebrities visiting East Los Angeles College for the “Rock the Campus for Bernie” event in Monterey Park, California, on May 10, 2016.
Photographer: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

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By John McCormick

May 13, 2016 at 9:00 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Democrats hold a registration advantage over Republicans in four of seven battleground states likely to play a central role in the presidential election, even as Republicans and independents have made gains.

The party that now controls the White House is ahead in registered voters in Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, while Republicans hold the lead in Colorado, Iowa and New Hampshire, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Politics. Three other likely battlegrounds—Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin—don’t register voters by party.