Pennsylvania, one of several crucial swing states in the upcoming presidential elections, has seen a significant increase in voters registering as independents.

The number of voters registered with third parties or no affiliation at all now comprises more than 15 percent of the Keystone State’s voting block, according to Spotlight PA.

The number of registered Democratic voters has declined since 2016, and now makes up 44 percent of registered voters across the commonwealth ­ — down from a high of 51 percent in 2009. The number of registered Republicans has risen by four percent in the same period to 40 percent.

“The Republican Party has shifted away from traditional conservativism into a more populist version of it, which speaks to traditional Democratic values like made-in-America union labor,” a GOP political consultant based in the Lehigh Valley region, Sam Chen, said to Spotlight PA. “On the Democratic side, I think you see that shift away from traditional liberalism over to a little bit more of a progressivism.”

Both sides say the numbers play to their advantage. Republicans argue that their increase in the voting roster shows that President Trump can pull off a victory in November, while Democrats cite recent polling trends as promising despite their party’s decline in the voting share.

The decline in registered Democrats comes with other news on Thursday showing that Vice President Harris is leading polls in Pennsylvania by four points, giving her a clear lead in the state, according to the New York Times. But polling also shows that she is in a dead heat with President Trump at 47 percent each.

The deadline for voter registration is October 21, giving both Democrats and Republicans the chance to bolster their numbers come election day. Republicans have gained 40,000 more voters than they had in November 2020, while Democrats need just over 300,000 to hit the levels they had in the same time period.