The Demographics of Voters
For a variety of reasons, the likelihood of persons registering and voting is different among various racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups. One of the unfortunate consequences of the varying rates is that select population groups in our country are under-represented while other groups tend to be over-represented. Thus, a baseline understanding of how various population groups are registered and vote can be key to executing a quality voter engagement effort.
The U.S. Census Bureau gives some insight into the varying registration and voting rates for various demographic segments of the population. They provide this insight through a supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a monthly survey of about 50,000 households conducted by the Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. After every presidential and congressional election year the Census Bureau performs a special survey and creates a useful supplement known as the Current Population Survey Voting and Registration Supplement. The CPS Voting and Registration Supplement , which surveys the civilian noninstitutional population in the United States — both voting and non-voting persons.
Although the supplement captures several interesting socioeconomic rates related to voting, we have decided to present you with several excerpts from the most recent supplement. It is important to note that this particular supplement comes from the November 2004 election. Therefore, the survey was taken after a presidential election and, consequently, the voting rates most likely will not be compatible with the voting rates of off-year elections. Excerpted text from the supplement is italicized below.
Race and Hispanic Origin
The likelihood of registering and voting differed among racial groups and Hispanics. Non-Hispanic Whites had the highest registration rate at 75 percent. Sixty-nine percent of Blacks, 52 percent of Asians, and 58 percent of Hispanics were registered to vote in 2004.
Non-Hispanic White citizens had the highest level of voter turnout in the November 2004 election — 67 percent, followed by Black citizens at 60 percent, Hispanic citizens at 47 percent, and Asian citizens at 44 percent.
Citizenship is especially important in the consideration of racial and ethnic differences in voting rates. Immigration has contributed to different proportions of noncitizens in various groups — 2 percent of non-Hispanic Whites were not citizens, compared with 6 percent of Blacks, 33 percent of Asians, and 41 percent of Hispanics (of any race) in 2004. Thus, voting rates based on the voting-age population and the voting-age citizen population differ the most for the latter two groups… The voting rate for both Asians and Hispanics was about 28 percent of the voting-age population, and 44 percent and 47 percent, respectively, of the voting-age citizen population in each group.
A key to voter turnout is registration, as the majority of registered voters among all racial and ethnic groups voted in the 2004 election. Among the registered citizen population—89 percent of non-Hispanic Whites, 87 percent of Blacks, 85 percent of Asians, and 82 percent of Hispanics voted.
Age
A key difference between these age groups was registration. While 79 percent of citizens 55 years and older were registered to vote in 2004, 58 percent of the younger citizens were. Young adults, especially people in their twenties, are the most transient, which may lead to lower levels of registration because moving usually requires re-registering.
While young adults had the lowest voting and registration rates in 2004, they had the largest increase in both rates since the 2000 presidential election compared with all other age groups. The registration rate for 18- to 24-year-old citizens increased 7 percentage points and the voting rate increased 11 percentage points between the 2000 and 2004 elections.
Marital Status
Marital status is also associated with registration and voting patterns. In 2004, married individuals had the highest rate of voter registration at 78 percent. Married individuals had a higher voting rate (71 percent) than widowed (62 percent), divorced (58 percent), separated (48 percent), or never married individuals (52 percent). Separated and never married individuals are generally younger, which may influence their voting patterns.
While married women had virtually the same registration rate as married men (about 77 percent), they had a higher voting rate (71 percent compared with 70 percent). Women who were not married had higher registration and voting rates (69 percent and 59 percent, respectively) than men who were not married (61 percent and 50 percent, respectively).
Educational Attainment
At each successive level of educational attainment, registration and voting rates increased. The voting rate of citizens who had a bachelor’s degree (78 percent) was about twice as high as that of citizens who had not completed high school (40 percent).
Younger adults overall had low voting rates; however, some subgroups of this population had relatively high voting rates… young adults with at least a bachelor’s degree had a higher voting rate (67 percent) than young adults with lower levels of educational attainment (25 percent to 57 percent). Young adults with at least a bachelor’s degree also had a higher voting rate than 25- to 44-year-old adults with some college education (64 percent) and 45- to 64-year-old adults whose highest level of attainment was high school graduate (63 percent).
Income and Employment Status
Citizens with higher incomes were more likely to register and to vote. The voting rate among citizens living in families with annual incomes of $50,000 or more was 77 percent, compared with 48 percent for citizens living in families with incomes under $20,000.
Employment status is another key indicator of voting participation. In the 2004 presidential election, 66 percent of employed citizens reported voting, compared with 51 percent of those who were in the labor force but not employed. Citizens who were not in the labor force, a group that included many retired people, had a voter participation rate of 61 percent.
For the complete Census Bureau’s CPS Voting and Registration Supplement report visit:
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/voting.html
Anthony E. Fairfax is Senior Technical Consultant for Democracy South, and Associate Editor of Voter Contact Magazine and cofounder of AdCast Inc, a target marketing company specializing in digital signage.