What's in a name amounts to a lot when it comes to local voter registration.

Voters in Amador County who "decline to state" any party affiliation jumped in numbers by 24 percent between spring 2006 and today, said Debbie Smith, elections supervisor. That trend mirrors one statewide and another in California's 3rd Congressional District, figures from the Secretary of State's Office show.

For those three arenas between last fall and now, however, only in Amador is registration down for both Republicans and Democrats.

Local Republican registration fell from 9,727 to 9,699 during the five-month period, and the Democratic roll fell from 7,501 to 7,466.

"People are real unhappy with the last four years of Bush," said Arnold Zeiderman, chairman of the county's Republican Central Committee. "He took his eye off fiscal discipline. Democrats are unhappy with the trend away from protecting the small guy. (But) retirees coming up here might be mostly Democratic. I'm surprised the Democrats declined."

Liz McCulloch, treasurer of the county's Democratic Central Committee, said, "My own observation is I suspect that the Republican Party has moved farther to the right than a lot of moderate Republicans can tolerate, and they've given up. My father was a moderate Republican, and I don't think he'd be anywhere near where the party is today."

Zeiderman noted a Republican challenger, former Assemblyman Charles Devore, has entered the political fray to oppose three-term incumbent U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-San Rafael.

Andy Stone, spokesman for the Democratic Campaign Committee in Washington, D.C., said that because California's 3rd Congressional District was taken last fall by Barack Obama, the committee will target the foothills district for efforts in the 2010 election. He noted that the Republican registration margin over Democrats in the district has fallen from 4.3 percent in April 2008 to just 1.9 percent currently. Stone added that district-wide, Democratic registration is up slightly, from 37 percent in 2008 to 37.7 percent in 2009.

In the district, "decline-to-state" registrations are now 15.3 percent of total. That is up from 13.7 percent in 2008 and 12.9 percent in 2006.

Around California, decline-to-states now compose some 20 percent of the electorate, up from 17.5 percent and 16.5 percent, respectively, in 2008 and 2006.

A slight rise in number of eligible voters in Amador - from 21,119 in 2006 to 21,482 currently - is too small to account for the 24-percent rise in decline-to-states.