FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — Ten percent of Kentucky voters are now registered as something other than Republican or Democrat, according to Secretary of State Michael Adams. He says in December, Kentucky voter registration for independents and other political affiliations broke double digits for the first time. The increase is part of a trend seen in the state's voter registration data for months now.
"Each month is a pretty significant bump in the number of independent voters or voters registered with other parties," said Adams.
"That's the fastest-growing voter bloc in Kentucky today," he added.
According to state numbers, Republicans account for 45.5% of the electorate with 1,635,938 voters. Democrats account for 44.5% of the electorate with 1,600,466 voters. Voters registered as Independent or with other affiliations account for 10% of the electorate with 358,336 voters.
So, Republicans and Democrats still make up 90% of Kentucky's voters. However, numbers on increase in registration show Independents/Others are growing at a faster rate.
In December, Republican registration increased by 0.13%, Democratic registration dropped by 0.18%, and other registration increased by 0.38%, according to registration data. In November, Republican registration increased by 0.28%, Democratic registration dropped by 0.24%, and other registration increased by 0.94%. The same trend can be found in other months' data as well.
“Candidates for statewide office should take notice: to win a general election, they must reach out beyond their base and court the fastest-growing bloc of the electorate,” said Adams.
Who is part of this voter bloc? According to Adams, it's mostly young voters who are registering to vote for the first time.
"There are some people who are Republicans or Democrats who are changing to Independent because they don't like the direction they see their party going - whether it's nationally or at the state level. There's some of that," said Adams. "But this is driven primarily by young voters. The big question is are they going to vote or not?"
Adams says in last November's election, less than half of Kentucky's Independents voted. He points out that there could be various reasons for that. However, he says election turnout among Independents tends to be lower than among Republicans and Democrats. So, his message to Independents is simple: if you want to make an impact, you need to vote.
"The impetus is on them to be relevant because if they don't vote, they're not relevant."
