Do political conventions motivate people to register to vote? In a word: Yes. During both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, California saw significant spikes in activity on its online voter registration site, according to Alex Padilla, California’s secretary of state.
In the three days leading up to the Republican National Convention, the average daily number of registrations or updates to registrations was 3,408. During the four-day Republican convention, the average daily number of registrations or updates jumped to 7,560.
Registration activity also spiked during the Democratic National Convention. In the three days leading up to the Democratic convention, the average daily number of registrations or registration updates was 5,236. During the four days of the convention, activity jumped to an average of 14,148 registrations or updates to registrations per day.
The largest number of registrations occurred on the final day of each convention.
There was a total of 30,240 registrations or updates to registrations conducted online during the Republican convention and 56,594 registrations or updates during the Democratic convention. The majority of registration activity was by younger Californians ages 17 to 35.
“This strong registration activity is very encouraging. People are paying attention,” Padilla said. “By ensuring they are properly registered, Californians are preparing to vote in the General Election. The two conventions were the high water marks for voter registration in July.”
Online registration is available at registertovote.ca.gov. To participate in the Nov. 8 General Election, those interested in voting must register by Oct. 24.
Source: CA Secretary of State’s office
