Washington, June 4 (IANS): A record number of Californians registered to vote ahead of the crucial June 7 primary, the California secretary of state's office announced.

Secretary of State Alex Padilla on Friday announced that 17,915,053 Californians had registered to vote, "the highest ever total state-wide voter registration heading into a primary election", Politico reported.

"In the 45 days leading up the voter registration deadline, there was a huge surge in voter registration -- total state-wide voter registration by nearly 650,000," Padilla said. 

"Part of this surge was fueled through social media, as Facebook sent a reminder to all California users register to vote."

Registration increased for the Democratic and Republican parties, as well as for 'no party preference' designation.

The bulk of the net increase resulted from a spike in Democratic Party registration, which increased by 491,818 registrations state-wide.

Meanwhile registration for the state's minor parties - Green Party, Libertarian Party, American Independent Party, and Peace and Freedom Party - all decreased, Padilla's office said.

Voters who are registered as no party preference can vote in the Democratic primary on June 7, but they will not receive a Democratic primary ballot unless they specifically request one.