The latest data from the folks at Voter Registration:
- 313,444 voters are registered for the May 19 primary — down 13,064 or 4 percent since November because of a voter-roll purge.
- 169,817 or 54 percent are Republicans — roughly the same portion as in the fall.
- 100,148 or 32 percent are Democrats — roughly the same portion as in the fall.
- 43,479 or 14 percent are registered with minority parties or are independent of any party.
Monday was the last day for voters who plan to cast ballots in the May 19 primary to register or change party affiliation. At stake this year are seats on Pennsylvania’s appellate courts as well as municipal and county contests throughout the state. The bottom line, according to the data, is that the Republican Party’s 54 percent majority here has held steady over the last six months after several consecutive cycles of erosion. Democrats make up 23 percent of the county electorate, and independents and minority party voters make up 14 percent.
Other stuff from the numbers: Lancaster County has purged nearly 13,000 inactive, deceased or relocated voters from its rolls ahead of this year’s municipal primary, shrinking the gain made by Democrats before the hot 2009 presidential contest. Still, the biennial cleaning of voter rolls left intact an important if symbolic number for the minority party. Despite losing nearly 4,000 voters, it still has more than 100,000 registered here — a milestone it reached last fall. Republicans lost about 6,362 voters and Democrats lost about 3,975 voters, according to data from the county and state.
