[Mr. Bird]

I think you are misreading this, or I am. This says the number of registered Dems in Ohio is 490k below that of 2008. You don’t register for every election, you register once. This means that 490k people either changed their affiliation, left the state, or died. I think.

[mazda77]

You are correct. I think the writer may be referring to the number of absentee ballots requested by Dems.

[dblshot]

In Texas, you can vote in either primary and they stamp Dem or Rep or Libertarian on your voter registration card. There is no separate registration to vote in any party. It does give the party an idea of who to mail money requests and that's about it. I don't know what the deal in Ohio is. I expect anyone can voter in a general election so party registration doesn't much matter. In some states where you have a lock in a primary, like an incumbent president, a lot of people will cross over and vote for the weaker opponent in a primary. It's a pretty fluid situation.