[Sosfbay-discuss] Speaking of Voter Registrations . . .

[alexcathy at aol.com]

Dear Green Friends,

  Most of the election commentary in the Sunday mainstream medium was 
the usual "Run-To-The-Center" mush. There was, however, one interesting 
piece in the San Francisco Chronicle by David Lesher, California 
program director for New America Foundation, a non-partisan public 
policy institute. Among several gems in this article was Lesher's 
observation that, while we Greens may be losing voter registrations, 
Republicans and Democrats are losing 'em even faster! According to 
Lesher, Democratic Party registration is at its lowest point in 75 
years. Furthermore, for voters under age 23, a whopping 40 percent are 
registering outside of the two major parties. By the way, this squares 
with my experience from the voter registration my wife and I did last 
year as part of a non-partisan registration drive for 9to5 the National 
Organization of Working Women. Cathy and I noticed huge numbers of 
independent and also Green Party registrations for young voters. We 
thought then that this was just Bay Area eccentricity, but evidently, 
the pattern holds statewide.

  You can find the whole article posted at www.sfgate.com, but here are 
some highlights:


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  Published by the San Francisco Chronicle, www.sfgate.com, Sunday, 
November 13, 2005.
 WHERE STATE'S ANGRY VOTERS WILL TURN NEXT
 by David Lesher

  Now what? The special election was a referendum on Gov. Arnold 
Schwarzenegger and all eyes are focused on how he responds to a 
complete rejection by voters. But an even more important question is, 
what will voters do next?

  They started this venture into uncharted territory with the 
unprecedented recall of an incumbent governor and the election of a 
political neophyte who promised to sweep out the status quo. Now, the 
rejection of the special election suggests the recall was a failed 
solution.

  Voters are still as angry as they were two years ago. Roughly 3 out of 
5 agree today with all of the following statements: California is on 
the "wrong track," bad times are ahead, there is "a lot" of waste in 
state government, Schwarzenegger and the Legislature are failing at 
their jobs, the government can rarely be trusted, political 
contributions have too much influence and "major change" is needed in 
the state budget.

 . . .

  For example, a poll last month by the nonpartisan Public Policy 
Institute of California found a dramatic jump in support for public 
financing of elections. Last year, voters rejected the idea by more 
than 22 points. But last month, the issue was dead even.

 . . .

  Democratic registration today is at 42 percent, its lowest point in 75 
years. There are actually about 400,000 fewer Democrats in California 
today than there were in 1994, even though the state has added more 
than 1 million registered voters since then. Republican registration is 
also down from nearly 40 percent in 1990 to less than 35 percent today.

  Registration outside of the two major parties has more than doubled 
since 1990 to nearly 23 percent today. San Francisco, the state's 
second-most Democratic county, also has the highest independent 
registration in California at 28 percent.

  The response by adult voters is also just a glimpse of the trend since 
many are unhappy but haven't made the effort to change their party 
registration. The bleak future of the two major parties is most clear 
in the response from young voters. Among those under age 23, more than 
40 percent are registering outside of the two major parties.

  So is California ready for a third party? Last year, voters split 
nearly 50-50 when the Public Policy Institute asked whether Republicans 
and Democrats are doing "such a poor job that a third major party is 
needed." But it may not stay that way very long since independent 
voters endorsed the statement by nearly 2 to 1.


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