Florida sees unprecedented increase in registered voters ahead of November election

The election is just two weeks away, and voter demographics have changed. 

Since this time in 2018, Florida has gained 1,225,908 voters.

Most of them came in the past two years.

"I was startled to look at the increase in voters over the last two years, about 800,000 more voters in just two years," said Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at UCF. "And even by Florida standards, that’s a lot in a two-year period."

At this time in 2020, there were 134,242 more registered Democrats than Republicans.

Now, there are 305,905 more Republicans registered than Democrats.

"We’re trending Republican as of right now, but that doesn’t mean that we are going to become a red state overnight," Jewett said. "I still think that Florida is a competitive state and depending on what happens over the next two years, four years, six years, it could switch back."

Another UCF political scientist points to recent ballot initiatives as a sign Florida could still be purple.

"In 2018, Amendment 4 which reinfranchised felons, in 2020 you had the $15 minimum wage pass." said John Hanley, a lecturer at UCF. "And those are positions that are much more within the Democratic Party than the Republican Party and they both got 60 percent of the electorate, so I think that there’s still a purpleness of the electorate."

There has also been an increase in voters who aren't affiliated with a party.

Close to 30 percent of voters aren't registered as Republicans or Democrats.