Recent U.S. census data, culled from a survey of 50,000 households, underscores a lot of the patterns that election-watchers have seen over the past several cycles.
States with “Election Day registration” (EDR) tend to have greater electoral participation, for obvious reasons. If an eligible citizen gets interested in the issues or the candidates in the final month of the campaign season, as many do, it’s too late to register to vote in most states. But EDR states allow those voters to show up on Election Day, present their credentials, as required by state law, and vote. Minnesota, an EDR state, had the highest general election turnout in the nation, at 79.2 percent, in 2004.
Young people, ages 18-29, are the lowest participation demographic by age. Despite the spike in youth participation in the 2008 presidential election, this age group is still consistently bested by older voters. The recent spate of photo voter ID laws, which are problematic for some elderly voters as well, will almost certainly make voting by college students more challenging than ever. In some states, student IDs are not acceptable for voting, because they either don’t have addresses or don’t have expiration dates. In others, such as Wisconsin, strict residency requirements make it difficult for students to vote at their campus addresses.
The new “Voting Hot Report” also shows the racial disparity in the U.S. electorate. Citizens of color lag behind Whites in voter registration and voting rates. For example, during the 2010 midterm elections, Latinos were the least likely to turn out to vote and most likely to not be registered.
These voting trends exemplify the need to make voter registration and voting accessible to all citizens. Whereas policies like EDR seem to help more voters take part in the democratic process in those states, states with restrictive voter registration and voting policies (see Florida and Texas on the map) “boasted” some of the lowest turnout rates in the last federal election.
Learn more about the 2008 and 2010 electorate at Project Vote’s Website.