(Omaha, NE) -- Some local Republican voters are switching their political party affiliation.
Douglas County election leaders say there is always some party-switching after an election, but say they believe the changes are connected to the violent riots that took place in the nation’s Capitol last week. They say the increased number of GOP voters switching their affiliation is not overwhelming, but it is noticeable. “We have seen an uptick in voter registration change and as you could imagine the vast majority of those are going from Republican either to nonpartisan, Democrat, or Libertarian,” Douglas County Election Commissioner Brian Kruse told WOWT 6 News.
Dan Welch, chairman of the Nebraska State Republican Party, told 6 News that he’s not alarmed. “I think some of that is to be expected,” he said. “Are we panicking about it? Absolutely not. It’s not a mass exodus of people; it’s few people here and there are making decisions — probably knee-jerk reactions. We don’t want them to leave. We’re going to try to win them back in the next two years.”
Election leaders say voters can change their affiliation as often as they want, so some of the GOP voters could return to the party at a later day if they so choose.