Oklahoma Has Lost More Than 200,000 Democratic Voters Since 2020

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — According to new numbers from the Oklahoma State Election Board, the number of people registering to vote in September increased over the month before.

At the end of September, the state had 2,054,613 registered voters, up from 1,995,949 in August.

Republicans saw a significant increase in registrations, adding 28,101 more voters during September. Democrats saw a small bump, increasing registered voters to 2,375.

The number of people registering as Republicans in September was the largest monthly increase this year, nearly doubling the amount of the second-largest month.

In March, 16,964 people registered as a Republican.

For the entire year, 88,025 more Republicans have registered. Only 17.438 more Democrats have registered.

The changes in registrations can be due to several factors: new registrations, address changes, affiliation changes and name changes.

The closer it gets to election day, the more people tend to register to vote.

In September 2020, Republicans in Oklahoma saw a similar boost in registration numbers, climbing 36,226 from the month before. Democrats, however, lost more than 7,000 registered voters from August to September 2020.

Yearly totals in 2020 show an increase in registrations similar to 2024.

From January 2020 to September 30, 2020, Republicans gained 87,218 voters. Democrats only gained 1,230.

One Republican state lawmaker thinks he knows why there was a big boost for Republican registrations last month.

“It is a Renaissance in Oklahoma right now,” Rep. Echols said. “People in Oklahoma are happy, and the Republicans are selling a vision. State Democrats right now are still selling anger and divisiveness.”

Rep. Echols said recent legislation and Republican leadership is what is driving an increase in registrations.

“Republican leadership in the state over the last four years, especially since the teacher walkout, has been really strong,” Rep. Jon Echols (R-Floor Leader) said. “We’ve led the state to historic numbers in savings, historic funding of education, we’ve cast a vision. In the meantime, on the state level, unfortunately, the Democrats have been marred in super unpopular issues arguing things about gender identity and other issues that just don’t resonate with the average day-to-day Oklahoman, and I think you’re seeing that in the registrations.”

Although Republicans have gained more registered voters in the state, Democrats have also seen an influx this year in registrations.

From January to September 30, 2024, Democrats added 17,438 voters.

“I would say a lot of it is attributed to the enthusiasm behind our presidential candidate in Vice President Harris,” said Oklahoma Democratic Party Chair Alicia Andrews.

In comparison, Democrats only added 1,230 new voters from January to September 30, 2020.

Despite the overall increase in year-to-date numbers, the number of Democratic voters in the state has decreased by more than 200,000 since 2020.

In December 2020, there were 748,534 registered Democratic voters. At the end of September 2024, there were just 536,829.

Andrews thinks more Democrats are registering as Republicans as a way to vote in primary elections. For a lot of Oklahoma, the primary election is the only election to vote in, with Republicans running unopposed.

“Our state has been gerrymandered in such a way that makes it nearly impossible for a Democrat to win in a lot of places in our state,” Andrews added. “A lot of Democrats haven’t had an opportunity to participate in the electoral process and so they are re-registering as Republicans so they can participate.”

There are less registered Republican voters as well, but not as drastic. Oklahoma has seen a decrease of 15,668 registered Republicans since December 2020.

In September, the Governor announced more than 453,000 voter registrations had been removed from the voter rolls since 2021.

Some of the ineligible voters removed from the rolls included convicted felons and deceased voters.

Democrats and Independents made up the majority of deleted voters off the rolls. While Democrats only make up 28% of registered voters in the state, they represented 34% of the deleted registrations.

Since a lot of primaries only include Republican nominees, Andrews says Democrats don’t have the opportunity to vote as often, which lead to some being taken off the rolls.

“194,000 folks were taken off the rolls for not voting enough,” Andrews said. “And if you live in a district where a Democrat can’t survive, you don’t getan opportunity to vote, then your vote is taken away from you in that manner as well.”