UNH Today

New Voters Could Change the Outcome of the NH Primary

According to Kenneth Johnson, a senior demographer at the Carsey School, New Hampshires population has changed significantly since 2016. Almost 20% of 2020 primary voters did not live in New Hampshire or were not old enough to vote four years ago. Johnson also states that the largest groupÌýof migrants to New Hampshire are from Massachusetts. These people are in their 30s and 40s with kids, with slightly higher incomes, and more eduation than the general population. They also tend to be more liberal.Ìý

Changing Population Could Effect NH Primary

According to Kenneth Johnson, a senior demographer at the Carsey School, New Hampshire is one of the most mobile states in the country.ÌýFrom 2016 to 2020, nearly 70,000 residents turned 18 and became eligible to vote, while 46,000 older residents died. During the same period, about 160,000 voting-age adults moved into the state, and about 150,000 moved out. AÌýÂé¶¹app Survey Center poll shows thatÌýboth young residents and recent migrants are less likely to identify themselves as conservative than established residents are.Ìý

New NH Voters Replace their Conservative Predecessors

Carsey School demographer Kenneth Johnson calculates that since the last election, about 195,000 of New Hampshires 1.1 million voters have departed from the state. They have been replaced with aboutÌý230,000 new voters. 70,000 of them are newly eligible voters while the other 160,000 are new residents. According to Johnson, one in five voters will be voting for the first time this election. He also states that the new voters that have moved to New Hampshire are more liberal than those that they replaced which could make a huge difference in a narrow race.Ìý