Return to the PIE Home PageDuring the early 1980s, there were about ten percent more registered Democrats than registered Republicans. 1992 marked the first time that there were more Republican registered voters than there were Democratic registered voters. This trend has continued each year to the present, with the exception of 1993. The number of independent voters, those who did not claim a party preference, has been significantly higher than the number of Democrats and Republicans. A substantial increase (50.9%) in the number of independent voters occurred between 1989 and 1992. The number of registered independents continues to increase. In 1998, independents represented 58.9% of the 657,306 registered voters in Franklin County.
Total
Years Independents Democrats Republicans Registered
1980 245,551 145,022 127,736 518,309
1981 223,562 132,014 118,670 474,246
1982 223,436 140,475 124,241 488,152
1983 248,789 133,255 117,348 499,395
1984 278,110 154,592 120,917 553,619
1985 252,694 143,140 113,154 508,988
1986 227,589 139,940 140,141 507,670
1987 227,851 133,714 135,362 496,927
1988 239,460 157,446 138,806 535,712
1989 206,237 144,951 130,569 482,237
1990 216,383 142,052 134,637 493,072
1991 258,848 125,267 118,060 502,175
1992 311,191 134,254 137,049 582,494
1993 296,642 126,929 126,229 549,800
1994 297,514 129,929 134,412 561,855
1995 320,343 125,287 129,630 575,260
1996 360,074 124,990 142,734 628,117
1997 379,544 122,042 138,923 640,813
1998 387,345 127,590 141,669 657,306
Source: Franklin County Board of Elections
Note: In 1998, there were 702 people registered in the Reform Party.
Filename: SD-082