Since the last gubernatorial election in 2005, the number of registered voters in New Jersey has remained steady at approximately 4.8 million, with 24% of voters registered as Democrats, 18% registered as Republicans, and 58% registered with another political party or unaffiliated with any political party at all. But during the Presidential election year of 2008, the state registered 554,000 new voters, bringing the total amount of registered voters up to 5.3 million. Where did these additional voters come from, and what party did they register under?

The number of registered voters under the Democratic Party rose from 24% in 2007 to 33% in 2008.  Bergen, Essex, Middlesex, Hudson, and Union County  picked up the majority of the new Democratic voters.  These counties comprise nearly 50% of all registered Democratic voters in the state. Overall, the Democratic Party increased by 618,052 new voters. The increase cannot be solely attributed to new registrants as it is partially due to the decline in unaffiliated voters.  In 2008,  244,000 unaffiliated voters changed their party membership to either Democrat or Republican.

This chart compares registration figures from 2007 to  2008.

The map below shows the counties which experienced the largest increase in Democratic Party registration.