Dems hold edge in Pa. registrations as deadline approaches
With the registration deadline approaching, about 8.5 million Pennsylvanians have signed up to vote in the November election, or about 85 percent of the voting-age population, according to state figures released this week.
With the registration deadline approaching, about 8.5 million Pennsylvanians have signed up to vote in the November election, or about 85 percent of the voting-age population, according to state figures released this week.
In what is viewed as a battleground state critical to the outcome of the presidential election, both major parties have posted modest gains since the spring primary, and Republicans have picked up ground since 2012.
But overall, Democrats hold a roughly 12 percentage-point edge over Republicans. Philadelphia remained overwhelmingly Democratic, but the GOP had a four-point advantage in the four counties neighboring Philadelphia.
The Pennsylvania registration deadline is Tuesday, and New Jersey's is Oct. 18.
The presidential nominees, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, and their surrogates have spent considerable time campaigning in Pennsylvania, also the venue for the hotly contested U.S. Senate race between Democrat Katie McGinty and incumbent Republican Pat Toomey.
Statewide, GOP registrations stood at 3.2 million, compared with 4.1 million Democrats.
Philadelphia, long a mainstay for Democratic candidates in statewide and national races, saw a 40,000 bump in registrations, with small gains for both parties. But the additions were well down from 2012's primary-to-Election Day period.
That year, the city added 80,000 registrations between the primary and the general election.
Similar to this year's figures, 85 percent of the voting-age population in Pennsylvania registered to vote in 2012, but that was down from the 90 percent of 2008.
cshaw@philly.com610-313-8119@coltshaw_
In Pennsylvania (Deadline Oct. 11)
If unsure whether you are registered, check https://www.pavoterservices.state.pa.us/pages/voterregistrationstatus.aspx.
If unregistered, fill out the online form at https://www.pavoterservices.state.pa.us/pages/VoterRegistrationApplication.aspx.
Also you can register in person at state-government offices, or mail in a registration form postmarked by Oct. 11.
In New Jersey (Deadline Oct. 18)
Check whether you are registered at https://voter.njsvrs.com/PublicAccess/servlet/com.saber.publicaccess.control.PublicAccessNavigationServlet?USERPROCESS=PublicSearch.
If you need to register, fill out the form, http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/voting-information-local-officials.html, for your county and take or mail it to the county commissioner of registration or superintendent of elections for your county.
The deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot is Nov. 1.
More information is on the state Division of Elections website, http://nj.gov/state/elections/index.html.