BUFFALO, N.Y. — The red wave that GOP leaders said would take over New York State last month is now receding to low tide — with new numbers from the New York State Board of Elections revealing that non-affiliated registered voters have now overtaken republicans for the states second largest voting block/
“You normally don't see the blank number exceed a major party number,” said republican political analyst Carl Calabrese.
The new statistics show roughly the same increase in non-affiliated voters over the past five years compared to the two decades before it.
“The Republican Party is dipping way below the Mendoza line for enrollment here,” said Jeremy Zellner, Erie County Democratic Party Chair. “And I think it shows that they just are out of touch with the people of the state of New York”
But as Zellner tells WGRZ, the republicans here don’t hold all the blame, as this recent rise in non-affiliated voters can largely be attributed to a change in election law in 2020 that tripled the number of voter signatures required for a party to get on a ballot — now grouping all minor parties into the “blank” category.
“Now, there are only four parties. The rest of them did not get enough votes to become full parties in the state,” he said.
And while this rise in non-affiliated voters hasn’t seen its effects here in Erie County yet — with republicans and democrats still remaining in control — new numbers from the county board of elections suggest the gap is closing, meaning moving forward, the republican party can no longer win an election without the support of the middle.
“This is certainly, I think, going to force the Republican Party to take a look at that strategy and say, ‘Well, we can't win by by having a hyper turn out of our base vote because there's just not enough of them,’” Calabrese said.