The 2016 presidential election is stressing America out and ending friendships.
But it’s also motivating a record number of citizens to register to vote.
The U.S. just passed 200 million registered voters, Politico reported Wednesday. Total voter registration stands at 200,081,377, to be exact.
Those numbers come from TargetSmart, which reported earlier in October that more than 191 million Americans had registered to cast a ballot on November 8. When combined with latest registration numbers in North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada and New York, it pushed total registrants over 200 million.
In 2012, there were 153.1 million registered voters out of 235.2 million eligible voters, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Nearly 133 million people voted in the presidential election between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.
In 1996, the last time a Clinton appeared on the presidential ballot, there were 193.6 million eligible voters in the United States. More than 127.6 million voters were registered, according to the Census Bureau.
The surging registration could be a boon for Democrats as the 2016 electorate will be the most diverse in U.S. history, according to the Pew Research Center. White voters are projected to make up 69 percent of the electorate this year. In 2000, when George W. Bush defeated Al Gore, whites made up 78 percent of eligible voters.
In April, Politico reported that more of the new registrants in battleground states like Pennsylvania, Florida, Iowa and North Carolina were identifying as Republicans. However, since June 1, the Democrats lead in registrations by more than 20 points in battleground states, according to TargetSmart.
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump wrapped up their respective nominations in early June.
The overall registration number should grow with just under three weeks until the election, as voters are still eligible to register in Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
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