Republican primaries through 9/1 had 4 million more voters than dem. primaries, breaking 80 year trend

• 9/14, "Primary voter turnout stays low, but more so for democrats," NY Times 'Five Thirty-Eight' blog

"For the first time since the 1930s, participation in Republican primaries exceeds participation in Democratic primaries, according to a report by the Center for the Study of the American Electorate at American University.

• The study, which looked at elections held through Sept. 1 of this year, found that
  

more than four million more voters cast ballots in Republican primaries than in Democratic primaries.

• While it is unclear whether higher levels of Republican primary participation spell doom for the Democrats in November, a closer look at the data shows reasons for leaders of both parties to be concerned — the number of nonvoters continues to outpace voters. ...
  

According to the study, voter turnout rebounded slightly from the 2006 primary season (which, with slightly less than 17 percent of the voting age population voting, holds the record for the lowest turnout for a midterm election on record). It is consistent with turnout from the 1998 and 2002 primaries, in which slightly less than 19 percent of the population voted."...

• chart from 538 blog, NY Times, 9/14

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