Democratic voters lethargic

Nevadans are having trouble keeping their voter registrations current, though part of the reason may be the state’s population decline.

The secretary of state’s office announced that 58,555 voter registrations have been put on “inactive” status.

The office also announced that the Democratic voter registration advantage of the last presidential election has been cut in half.. In 2008, Democrats enjoyed about a 100,000 edge. Now it’s about 50,000.

It’s unclear whether the Democratic decline is just the normal result of fewer people registering Democratic, or if the inactive registrations have some kind of role in that decline. No party breakdown of the inactive registrations was provided.

On Jan. 19, 2008, the Democratic Party registered thousands of people so they could participate in the early Nevada presidential caucuses. But many of them were attracted by the excitement of the Clinton/Obama race, and it’s uncertain that their participation survived that campaign. In the Republican caucuses, only already-registered voters who showed up were permitted to participate.