How voter affiliation has changed this year in Utah

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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah has more than 1.7 million active voters on the rolls, according to the latest statistics from the lieutenant governor's office — up by about 35,000 since the start of the year.

That's in line with increases in active registered voters in previous presidential election cycles and, if the trend continues, the state could top 1.8 million active voters ahead of the Nov. 5 general election. Utah saw an increase of over 143,000 active voters between Aug. 10, 2020, and Oct. 26, 2020, and more than 83,000 additional registered voters during that same period in 2016.

The number of inactive voters has also traditionally declined in the weeks and months leading up to each presidential election, although the increase in active voters has generally outpaced the decline in inactive ones.

Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson released statistics on voters who changed their party since Jan. 9 on Thursday, noting state law prohibits switching party affiliation during a primary election cycle.

"Biggest shift by far was voters switching from a political party to become unaffiliated," Henderson said in a post on X. "Also interesting is the number of voters moving to the Independent American Party (maybe they see 'Independent' and don't realize it's an actual political party?)"

Many politicos in the state assume the Independent American Party benefits in registration numbers because voters think they are registering as unaffiliated, given that its membership dwarfs other third parties, such as the Libertarian and Constitution parties.

A total of 26,715 voters have changed their affiliation this year, according to Henderson, with 13,234 becoming unaffiliated; 5,312 moving to the GOP; 3,456 becoming Democrats; and 2,985 joining the Independent American Party.

The Republican Party gained over 5,000 members through affiliation changes while losing nearly 13,000, for a net loss of 7,646. Democrats also lost a net of 3,281 registered voters. The majority of voters leaving both major parties became unaffiliated.

*2024 party affiliation changes*

State law prohibits party affiliation changes for voters during primary election cycle. The following reflects changes from Jan 9 - Aug 8

Total: 26,715

To unaffiliated: 13,234
To Republican: 5,312
To Democrat: 3,456
To Indep American: 2,985

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— Deidre Henderson (@DeidreHenderson) August 15, 2024

The GOP continues to dominate the state with Republicans counting for 52% of all active voters, although more than a quarter of active voters (28%) are unaffiliated. Democrats make up nearly 13.5% of the active voter list, down from 14% at this same time four years ago.

The Utah Forward Party, which launched in the state late last year, has registered 84 active voters since its inception.

Here is the full list of Utah's active voter registration statistics by party, as of Monday: