Pennsylvania breaks past 9M voters at registration deadline

Voter registration in Pennsylvania has hit a record high in this cycle, and as of Friday, the latest statistics available, voter rolls were about 17,000 short of hitting 9 million. FOX 29's Chris O'Connell has more.

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Monday is the last day in Pennsylvania to register to vote in the Nov. 3 election in which the presidential battleground state is playing a central role in the contest between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.

Voter registration in Pennsylvania has already hit a record high in this cycle.

The total number of state voters has passed 9 million, state elections official said Monday. That includes more than 4.2 million Democrats, more than 3.5 million Republicans, just over 895,000 independents and about 407,000 voters registered with another party.

Voter Guide 2020: Everything you need to know about voting in Pennsylvania

Democrats hold a substantial registration edge, but Republicans have narrowed the gap by about 200,000 from 2016′s presidential election to about 700,000 now, thanks in part to Democratic party-switchers.

State data also shows that, through Sept. 10, about 200,000 more Democrats than Republicans who did not vote in 2016 have since canceled their registration.

That happened either due to requesting cancellation, dying, moving out of state, being successfully challenged as ineligible or not responding to voter list maintenance notices.

Pennsylvania’s swing-state status, along with its ability to award 20 electoral votes of the 270 needed to win the presidency, has brought the state a great deal of attention during 2020's election cycle.

The state's mail-in/absentee ballot application deadline is Oct. 27.

Pennsylvania residents can CLICK HERE to register to vote, or CLICK HERE to apply for a mail-in/absentee ballot.