Oklahoma voter registration up, despite study showing low political engagement in state
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Voter registration numbers are up by the hundreds of thousands in the state since the 2020 election. That’s despite a recent study showing we’re one of the least politically engaged states in the country.
Over 323,000 voters have registered since early 2020. That brings our states total to over 2.4 million registered voters.
"There are so many things that enter into that and it's hard to keep track,” University of Central Oklahoma Political Science professor Dr. Brett Sharp said.
Sharp said despite the fact multiple reasons could contribute to the higher numbers, one constant holds true and that’s Oklahoma being a solid red state.
252,000 Republicans have registered since 2020 in Oklahoma to almost 84,000 Democrats. Those numbers stand even with 453,000 voter registrations purged for routine voter list maintenance since January 2021.
Nationally though, it’s a different story.
"We saw kind of a slight Republican edge in new voter registration compared to Democrats up until Kamala Harris entered the race,” Sharp said.
However, registration doesn’t equal turnout. A study from Wallet Hub, first reported by the Oklahoman, rated Oklahoma 47th in overall political engagement.
30 percent of people age 18-24 are actively participating in elections and following candidates. That’s compared to 70 percent of those 65 and older, a stat ranking in the mid-40s alone. Just like registration, a number of factors lead into younger Oklahomans not voting. Some of the top reasons, they feel like their candidate won’t win, so their vote doesn’t matter.
"Younger voters have always been a heartbreaker to those campaigns that depend on them,” Sharp said.
KFOR was told the state election board is releasing their official voter registration report next week. We should have a better all-around picture of voter registration in the state at that point.