MAJOR PARTY SHARE OF REGISTRATION DROPS BELOW 65% FOR FIRST TIME IN AT LEAST 90 YEARS

For the first time in at least ninety years (and probably for the first time ever), the percentage of voters who are registered into one or the other of the two major parties is below 65%. Democratic Party registration is at an all-time low, and Republican Party registration is near its all-time low. See the percentages below, for the period February 1993 through July 2026 (the two digit numbers in the “Date” column are the last two digits of the year):

DATE	DEM.	REP.	TOT.
Feb 93	47.76	32.97	80.73
Dec 94	47.80	34.27	82.07
Feb 96	47.66	35.12	82.78
Dec 96	45.69	33.79	79.48
May 98	45.12	32.25	77.37
Dec 98	44.94	33.26	78.20
Apr 00	44.40	33.00	77.40
Dec 00	43.74	32.78	76.62
Sep 02	42.85	32.52	75.37
Dec 02	42.68	32.55	75.23
Feb 04	42.19	32.79	74.98
Dec 04	41.87	32.32	74.19
July 06	41.51	32.23	73.74
Jan 07	41.64	32.39	74.03
Mar 08	41.66	31.89	73.55
Dec 08	43.62	30.72	74.34
June 10	43.35	30.43	73.78
Dec 10	42.98	30.58	73.56
Feb 12	42.64	30.79	73.43
Dec 12	41.88	30.13	72.01
Apr 14	41.45	29.88	71.33
Dec 14	41.17	29.79	70.96
DATE	DEM.	REP.	TOT.
Mar 16	40.60	29.90	70.50
Dec 16	40.60	29.37	69.97
Aug 17	40.27	29.55	69.82
Mar 18	40.00	29.33	69.33
Nov 18	39.91	29.19	69.10
Mar 20	39.66	28.87	68.53
Nov 20	39.67	29.51	69.18
Mar 21	39.58	29.48	69.06
Dec 21	39.48	29.38	68.86
Aug 22	39.06	29.57	68.63
Dec 22	38.73	29.60	68.33
Dec 23	38.09	29.65	67.74
June 24	37.60	30.05	67.65
Nov 24	37.07	30.40	67.47
Dec 25	35.29	29.88	65.17
July 26	34.96	29.80	64.76

This data was collected by B.A.N. and published in many past issues. For years before 1993, no attempt was made to collect the data from all the states that have partisan registration. But enough data is at hand for the period 1940 through 1991 to know that the two party registration in those years was even higher than in the 1990’s. Data for the years 1940-1991 exists in published state sources for California, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania.

The drop in major party share of the registrations is accelerating, as one can see from the December 2025 and July 2026 data.

The July 2026 entry is the low point for the Democratic Party.

It is interesting to observe that the lowest share of the Republican registration came in March 2020, the most frightening time for the Covid health crisis.

Ironically, as voter support for membership in the two major parties has dropped, the ballot access laws for new parties have been getting more severe in the 2020’s decade, especially in Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Texas.

ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ENJOINS DISCRIMINATORY GEORGIA CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAW

On June 12, the Eleventh Circuit agreed with the lower court that Georgia cannot continue to enforce a campaign finance law that lets some candidates receive unlimited donations while some of their opponents for the same office do not have the same advantage. Jackson v Jones, 26-10854.

The law lets the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor receive unlimited donations when they run for any state office. The case was won by a Republican gubernatorial candidate who had sued one of his opponents, the incumbent Lieutenant Governor, who was also running for Governor. The law treats the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor better than any other individuals. The vote was 2-1. The dissenting judge felt the case was procedurally flawed. Judges in the majority were Britt Grant and Adalberto Jordan; the dissenter was William Pryor.

ACCESS FIGHTS IN TEN STATES

Alaska: on June 15, the Elections Division removed Daniel J. Sullivan from the August 18 primary ballot. He had qualified to be a Republican candidate for U.S. Senator. Also running is incumbent U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan. The Elections Division removed Daniel J. Sullivan because it felt his candidacy is not “in good faith.” On June 22, he filed a lawsuit in state court to get back on the ballot. He argues that no state has the authority to examine a candidate’s motives, and that the U.S. Constitution does not permit the states to add such qualifications as motive for candidates for federal office. Sullivan v State of Alaska Division of Elections, Superior Court, 3^rd district, 3AN–26-07485.

Illinois: all of the minor party and independent candidates for statewide office have been challenged, and none of the serious challenges have been resolved yet. Also, all but one of the minor party and independent petitions for U.S. House have also been challenged. The greatest suspense involves Collin Corbett’s independent petition for Governor, and the U.S. House, 4^th district, petitions for Byron Sigcho Lopez and Myra Macias. Each of the latter two submitted approximately twice as many signatures as were required, but the Illinois challenge process sometimes eliminates petitions with a large excess over the requirement.

Iowa: on June 10, the Libertarian petitioning candidates for Governor-Lieutenant Governor and U.S. House in two districts were challenged. The basis for the gubernatorial challenge is that the Lieutenant Governor candidate did not submit a declaration of candidacy, but the candidate says that she submitted the form and it was refused on the grounds that it wasn’t necessary, because Governor and Lieutenant Governor run as a team.

The party had submitted 8,000 signatures for this pair of offices. The two U.S. House candidates were challenged on the basis that their names on the petition are not identical to their names on their voter registration affidavits.

The state officials ruled against the challenge to one of the U.S. House candidates, but upheld the other challenges. The candidates are about to file a state court lawsuit.

Kansas: on May 31, the Secretary of State removed the No Labels Party from the ballot at the request of the party’s former state chair, and over the objections of the...

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