Back in April, registration of new voters spiked. Now, they’re lagging behind other midterm years.
New voter registration spiked in April, according to data from the Department of Elections posted to the Virginia Public Access Project. And that was just as voters were heading the polls to consider a constitutional amendment allowing for the Democrats to redraw Virginia's congressional districts. The courts eventually invalidated that vote, but the spike in new registrations set a record.
"We usually see that type of activity just prior to a vote, or something else that has drawn people's attention to voter registration," says Jennifer Victor at George Mason University. "So, that certainly explains the spike in April."
Chris Piper is an elections expert who says that spike in April might also explain the sluggish new registration numbers for September.
"Anytime you have a spike in registrations due to a particular issue, or election, as we've seen here, the following months, there's not as many people to register essentially," Piper says. "So, maybe you'll see some sort of drop-off."
Next week is the deadline for new voters to register, although Virginia also offers same-day voter registration that is open all the way through the end of voting on November 3rd.
