New primary stats: 2 of 3 independents took a Democratic ballot

Independent voters who took part in the Sept. 8 state primary chose a Democratic ballot over a Republican one by a 2-1 margin, according to final voter registration numbers.

But 84% of independents who voted then used the option at the polls that allowed them to sign their name to return to non-party status.

Thanks to a new state law that annually purges the rolls of uninvolved voters, the Republican Party is only 1% -- or 8,300 voters -- short of surpassing independents and becoming the majority voting segment group in New Hampshire.

So, the final stats gave leaders of both political parties something to crow about.

Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley said this follows on the turnout news that more than 40,000 voting in his party’s contests than in the GOP's.

“Granite Staters are clearly fed up. We saw a historic number of voters turn out on Primary Day, with more than 155,000 ballots cast in the Democratic Primary, an increase of over 8% in Democratic voter registrations, and independent voters choosing Democratic ballots by more than a 2-to-1 margin," Buckley said in a statement Monday.

"This type of enthusiasm powered Democrats to victories across the board in 2018 and will motivate Granite Staters to turn out this November to reject John Sununu, Kelly Ayotte, and all New Hampshire Republicans who support Trump's costly and chaotic agenda.”

House Election Laws Committee Chairman Ross Berry, R-Weare, said despite this enhanced recent voter enthusiasm for Democrats, it’s the GOP that over time has been steadily making advances in voter registrations.

“Since November 2016, Republicans have made the largest proportional gain, with their share of registered voters rising from 30.7% to 34.7%,” Berry posted on X. “And so, while Democrats got a boost from two major primary battles, the registration trend over time remains “Advantage: GOP.”

Independent ranks shrink thanks to new, quicker purge

Secretary of State David Scanlan said the most important news is that on Saturday, general election ballots went out to voters living overseas or serving in the military.

This meant the state will meet the federal law requirement to get those overseas ballots out within 45 days of a statewide election.

The ballot sendout went forward after the Supreme Court decided to set aside, for this election at least, the lawsuit challenging the question to appear on all general election ballots this Nov. 3 on whether any city or towns wishes to cap property taxes raised to support local school spending.

This lawsuit could still be used to prevent the same question to be placed in 2028 for all communities that failed to adopt it this November.

Last week, city and town officials turned in their latest voter rolls figures reflecting a new law passed in 2025 that requires annual purging off the list of those who haven’t voted in the previous five years.

Prior to the 2025 law (SB 221), which kicked in Jan. 1, the rolls had to be purged every 10 years and those removed had not voted in the previous four years of elections.

These updated figures revealed the ranks of the independent voter bloc had fallen nearly 40,000 (39,906) since Aug. 10, the latest checklist number before the primary.

Compared to that total five weeks earlier, Democrats had picked up 12,079 while Republicans had grown by a much smaller amount, 1,514.

Here are some other key findings in these new numbers:

• New registrants: There were 9,903 who registered to vote at the polls on Sept. 8.

• Independent voters: There were 81,242 who took part in primaries, 54,296 voting in the Democratic primary and 26,946 in the GOP races.

• Returned to independent: There were 68,170 independents who voted in a primary but signed up to go back to non-party status.

• Updated turnout: Based on the smaller pool on the checklist, the primary turnout was 31.2%.

• Democrats more active: Among registered Democrats, 39.6% voted on Sept. 8 compared to a 29% turnout of Republicans and just over 26% of independents.

• Raw numbers: The data appears to show 101,338 Democrats voted compared to 86,659 Republicans and 81,242 independents. The party split is narrower than the turnout because independents, by a 2-1 spread, took a Democratic ballot.

• How the pie is now split: Independents (307,354) narrowly remain the largest bloc with 35.6% of all voters with Republicans (298,965) close behind with 34.7%, followed by Democrats (255,943) at 29.7%; Since Aug. 10, Democrats grew by 2.1%, Republicans grew by 1.2% and the independents fell by 3.3% in voter registration strength.