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More registered Democrats in St. Lawrence County, but more Republicans see better turnout amongst party members

Posted 9/17/17

By JIMMY LAWTON CANTON – More Democrats are registered to vote in St. Lawrence County than any other party, but Republicans have better turnout at the polls in recent years, according to …

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More registered Democrats in St. Lawrence County, but more Republicans see better turnout amongst party members

Posted

By JIMMY LAWTON

CANTON – More Democrats are registered to vote in St. Lawrence County than any other party, but Republicans have better turnout at the polls in recent years, according to information provided by St. Lawrence County Board of Elections.

In St. Lawrence County there are 58,133 registered voters. The majority are women with 30,187. There are 27,946 men registered to vote in the county.

Of those voters 21,616 are registered as Democrats and 19,960 are members of the Republican Party.

Women make up the majority of registered Democrats with 12,193 compared to 9,423 men.

Men make up the majority of Republicans with 10,362 compared to 9,598 women.

Third parties, unaffiliated

The next largest group of registered voters are not affiliated with any party. There are 11,517 registered voters in this group in St. Lawrence County. Women make up the majority with 5,995 compared to 5,522 men. People in this group are unable to vote in primaries, because they are not members of political party.

Data shows that while this is a large section of the voting population, turnout amongst these voters is lower than Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives and Independence party members.

There are 3,219 St. Lawrence County residents registered to the Independence Party with 1,612 men and 1,607 women.

There are 904 registered Conservative Party members in the county with 543 men and 361 women.

The Green Party has 172 members with 101 men and 71 women. The party focuses on social justice issues, non-violence and sustainability of the planet.

The Women’s Equality Party has seven members in St. Lawrence County, including just one man.

The Reform Party has two members in the county, both are women.

There are 64 registered voters who identify as members of the Libertarian Party in the county with 48 men and 16 women.

Age matters

Data from the board of elections shows that older residents are far more likely to be registered to vote. The 55-64 age group includes the most registered voters with 11,935. That group is followed by the 45-54 group with 10,059 registered voters. There are 9,082 residents age 65-74 who are registered to vote and 6,663 registered voters over age 75.

The data also shows that those voters are far more likely to be registered as Republicans or Democrats.

The age group with the largest number of voters who are not affiliated with a party range from 25-34. This group actually has 2,373 registered voters who are not members of a political party. In contrast there are 1,875 registered Republicans in this age group and 2,877 Democrats.

The second most proliferate group of non-party voters are in the 35-44 group with 1,988. In that age group there are 2,716 Democrats and 2,401 Republicans.

At the polls

In the 2016 general election Republicans in St. Lawrence County were the most active, with 73 percent showing up at the polls. Conservatives followed them with 72 percent showing up at the polls.

Democrats were the third most active group with 70 percent showing up at the polls.

For the non-affiliated registered voters turnout was lower, with about 52 percent of those registered coming to the polls.

In the 2015 election, which was a non-presidential election year, turnout was lower. In that election Republicans still had the best turnout with 29 percent of registered party members casting ballots. About 24 percent of registered Democrats voted and 20 percent of Conservatives participated in the election.

Only 11 percent of registered voters who were not registered with a party voted in that election.