Voter registration up in July as major parties post increases

Nevada active voter registration increased by more than 8,000 in July to more than 1.43 million.

But about a third of that increase was the result of inactive voters reporting to county election officials and reactivating their status. Overall, total registration grew by about 5,500.

Voters are listed as inactive when they don’t vote in a couple of elections or fail to return cards mailed by those county officials confirming they still are at their listed address.

They can, however, still vote on election day by showing up and affirming they are still living in their district and precinct.

The percentage of registered voters listed as inactive tends to be much lower in Nevada’s small and rural counties than in Clark and Washoe. Of the 221,180 inactive voters as of the end of July, 205,313 are in those two counties and just 15,867 in the other 15 Nevada counties. In Esmeralda County, for example, just 10 of the 566 voters are listed as inactive.

In Carson City, there are 28,577 registered to vote and 1,668 inactive. Carson gained 115 voters in July.

Douglas County reported total registration of 34,024 but had 4,231 on the inactive list. The total number registered was unchanged from June.

Churchill County lists 12,858 voters, 1,055 of them inactive, and Lyon 32,388 registered with 2,087 inactive.

Of Nevada’s 1,209,523 active voters, the largest group is Democrats at 474,80. That’s 55,505 more than the 419,301 registered Republicans.

But the key to victory remains in the hands of those independents who list themselves as nonpartisan — a total of 237,487 voters.

The next biggest group is 57,179 Independent American Party members.

When those groups are subtracted from the total, it leaves just 20,770 voters who are members of the Libertarian and other minor parties.

By age, Democrats hold the registration lead in every group except voters over 65 where the GOP has a 661 voter edge at 136,104.

The Democratic edge is most prominent in the 18-24 and 25-34 age groups where they hold a 53,208 voter lead. Those age groups, however, have the lowest turnout rate on election day, which helps even the playing field for the GOP.