From the Advocacy Committee
October 3, 2023
A Quick Look at Voter Registration in Camp Hill
With a month to go until Election Day, here is some inspiration for all of us to remind family, friends, and neighbors to vote for Democrats on November 7– for quality education, protecting the environment and addressing climate change, access by all to comprehensive reproductive health care, and protecting the Constitution and the rule of law.
Motor Voter Registration. Under Governor Shapiro’s leadership, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania announced last month that voter registration will now be automatic to eligible voters obtaining driver licenses and ID cards at Pennsylvania Department of Transportation driver and photo license centers. Pennsylvania joins 23 other states in promoting election security and saving taxpayers time and money. There is an opt-out option offered to all registrants.
Currently, there are approximately 1.7 million Pennsylvanians eligible to vote but not registered. At the end of 2022, there were 8.7 million Pennsylvanians registered to vote.
To be eligible to register to vote in Pennsylvania, applicants must:
Be a U.S. citizen for at least 30 days before the next election,
Be a resident of Pennsylvania and their election district for at least 30 days before the next election, and
Be at least 18 years old on the date of the next election.
Let’s get our neighbors registered to vote if they aren’t already! For more information about voter registration and eligibility, visit PA Online Voter Registration.
Here’s where things stand locally with voter registration.
Camp Hill. Democrats hold a slight lead over Republicans in party registration – 43.5% v. 41%. We hold a slim majority in each of the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th Precincts. This is a small number, however; there are 146 more Democrats in Camp Hill than Republicans out of 6,126 registered voters. The good news is that there is room for growth; Independents and “others” make up 15.5% of Camp Hill voters.
We have seen significant growth in Democratic registration in recent years. In 2008, for example, Democratic registration in the Borough was 35% against a Republican rate of 53% and 13% for Independents and “other.”
Cumberland County. Out of 175,401 registered voters in Cumberland County, 34.2% are registered Democrats and 49.3% are registered Republicans. Independents and “others” make up the remaining 12.3%. Only two county precincts have a Democratic majority-3-1 (near Dickinson College) and 4-1 (downtown Carlisle).
10th Congressional District. Many of us, and not only Democrats, are embarrassed that we continue to be represented in the U.S. House by Scott Perry, a leading member of the
obstructionist Freedom Caucus who has been called a key figure in the efforts to overturn the 2020 election. While he has denied it, testimony was given before the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol that Congressman Perry sought a pardon from then-President Trump for his role and he is known to have made the introduction to Trump of now federally indicted Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Clark.
But the registration for this district is only slightly less than five percent more Republican than Democratic (44.14% vs. 39.2%) with 16.66% Independents and “others.” It is critical to note that Governor Shapiro won this district by 12% in 2022 in the same race that Perry retained his seat by only a little more than 4%.
In other words, while this race is not on the ballot this November, by next year when it will be, we should work as hard as possible to increase Democratic voter registration and get out the vote to finally beat Scott Perry.
Pennsylvania. Statewide, as we have seen in recent U.S. Senate and Presidential races, Pennsylvania has a 46% to 39% voter registration advantage over Republicans, with Independents and “others” at 15%.
This lead has been shrinking, however, with more voters registering as Independents or “others” in recent months. The Pennsylvania Independent Party is now at almost one million registered voters as of this month
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