Voter registration shifts from Republican

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- The number of registered Republican voters in the United States fell as registered Democrats rose since the last general election, voting experts said.

But, almost as often, people are registering to vote without declaring any party affiliation, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

While implications for the general election remain unclear, experts told the Times voting registration numbers may signal a movement away from the GOP that could affect local, state and national politics for several election cycles.

In battleground states such as Iowa and Nevada, state officials reported more registered Democrats than Republicans, a reversal from 2004. No state officials reported a similar switch to more registered Republicans than Democrats for the same period.

A dozen states report the number of voters registering as independent outpaced both Republicans and Democrats.

"This is very suggestive that there is a fundamental change going on in the electorate," Michael McDonald, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and political science associate professor at George Mason University who studies voting patterns, told the Times.