Political Participation - Voter Turnout

Registering to vote is one thing, but actually going out to the polls on Election Day is another. Often people will register to vote but fail to exercise their right to vote when the time comes.

While African-Americans are somewhat less likely to vote than whites, both groups are much more likely to vote than Hispanics and Asians and Pacific Islanders. Among non-Hispanic whites, 61.8 percent of citizens voted, compared to 56.8 percent of African-Americans and 45.1 percent of Hispanics. Among Asians and Pacific Islanders, only 43.3 percent reported that they had voted. (See Table 9.2.)

African-Americans in the Midwest were more likely to vote in 2000 than African-Americans in other parts of the country. Approximately 61.7 percent of African-American citizens in the Midwest voted that year, with the lowest turnout in the West, where only 50.6 percent voted. Among Hispanics, those in the Midwest were also more likely to vote. Roughly 48 percent of Hispanic citizens in the Midwest voted in 2000, compared to 44.7 percent in the South. APIs were also more likely to vote in the Midwest, where 49.1 percent voted in 2000, compared to 42 percent in the South. (See Table 9.2.)

Not everyone in the voting-age population can vote. The Census Bureau's voting-age population estimates include those who are eligible to vote as well as those who FIGURE 9.1
Citizenship and voting rates, by race and ethnicity, 2000
(Percent) are not eligible to vote, such as noncitizens, convicted felons, and prison inmates. Americans living overseas who are of voting age are also missing from those estimates.

There are more noncitizens in the voting age population among Hispanics and APIs than among non-Hispanic whites and African-Americans. In 2000, 41.3 percent of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the voting-age population were not citizens. Approximately 39.1 percent of voting-age Hispanics were not citizens. In comparison, only 5.7 percent of voting-age African-Americans were not citizens and 2.2 percent of voting-age whites were not citizens. (See Figure 9.1.)

TABLE 9.2
Reported voting and registration, by selected characteristics, November 2000
[Numbers in thousands]

		Total citizen
			Reported registered		Reported voted
Characteristic	Total population	Total citizen	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Total, 18 years and over	202,609	186,366	129,549	69.5	110,826	59.5
Sex
Men	97,087	88,758	60,356	68.0	51,542	58.1
Women	105,523	97,609	69,193	70.9	59,284	60.7
Race, Hispanic origin, and sex
White	168,733	157,291	110,773	70.4	95,098	60.5
Men	81,720	75,728	52,299	69.1	44,879	59.3
Women	87,014	81,564	58,473	71.7	50,219	61.6
White non-Hispanic	148,035	144,732	103,588	71.6	89,469	61.8
Men	71,531	69,930	49,103	70.2	42,359	60.6
Women	76,503	74,801	54,485	72.8	47,110	63.0
Black	24,132	22,753	15,348	67.5	12,917	56.8
Men	10,771	10,048	6,416	63.9	5,327	53.0
Women	13,361	12,705	8,932	70.3	7,590	59.7
Asian and Pacific Islander	8,041	4,718	2,470	52.4	2,045	43.3
Men	3,767	2,213	1,199	54.2	980	44.3
Women	4,274	2,505	1,272	50.8	1,065	42.5
Hispanic (of any race)	21,598	13,158	7,546	57.3	5,934	45.1
Men	10,653	6,085	3,375	55.5	2,671	43.9
Women	10,945	7,073	4,171	59.0	3,263	46.1
Age
18 to 24 years	26,712	23,915	12,122	50.7	8,635	36.1
25 to 34 years	37,304	32,233	20,403	63.3	16,286	50.5
35 to 44 years	44,476	40,434	28,366	70.2	24,452	60.5
45 to 54 years	37,504	35,230	26,158	74.2	23,362	66.3
55 to 64 years	23,848	22,737	17,551	77.2	15,939	70.1
65 to 74 years	17,819	17,233	13,573	78.8	12,450	72.2
75 years and over	14,945	14,582	11,375	78.0	9,702	66.5
Marital status
Married-spouse present	113,723	104,744	79,824	76.2	70,885	67.7
Married-spouse absent	2,710	1,899	1,168	61.5	982	51.7
Widowed	13,736	13,124	9,258	70.5	7,756	59.1
Divorced	19,809	19,055	12,403	65.1	10,199	53.5
Separated	4,427	3,960	2,316	58.5	1,815	45.8
Never married	48,204	43,584	24,581	56.4	19,189	44.0
Educational attainment
Less than 9th grade	12,894	8,784	4,655	53.0	3,454	39.3
9th to 12th grade, no diploma	20,108	17,801	9,235	51.9	6,758	38.0
High school graduate or GED	66,339	62,426	39,869	63.9	32,749	52.5
Some college or Associate
degree	55,308	52,800	38,700	73.3	33,339	63.1
Bachelor's degree	32,254	30,063	24,619	81.9	22,661	75.4
Advanced degree	15,706	14,492	12,472	86.1	11,865	81.9
Annual family income
Total family members	152,294	140,079	99,950	71.4	86,443	61.7
Less than $5,000	2,230	1,834	981	53.5	628	34.2
$5,000 to $9,999	4,242	3,623	2,068	57.1	1,470	40.6
$10,000 to $14,999	7,286	6,197	3,631	58.6	2,745	44.3
$15,000 to $24,999	14,600	12,337	8,013	65.0	6,330	51.3
$25,000 to $34,999	17,692	15,629	10,788	69.0	9,026	57.8
$35,000 to $49,999	22,349	20,759	15,007	72.3	12,853	61.9
$50,000 to $74,999	28,144	26,683	20,775	77.9	18,341	68.7
$75,000 and over	35,030	33,442	27,450	82.1	25,060	74.9
Income not reported	20,721	19,574	11,237	57.4	9,990	51.0
Employment status
In the civilian labor force	138,378	126,863	88,575	69.8	75,802	59.8
Employed	133,434	122,508	86,297	70.4	74,068	60.5
Unemployed	4,944	4,355	2,278	52.3	1,734	39.8
Not in the labor force	64,231	59,503	40,974	68.9	35,023	58.9
Tenure
Owner-occupied units	145,362	138,929	102,442	73.7	89,886	64.7
Renter-occupied units	54,475	44,877	25,454	56.7	19,637	43.8
No cash rent units	2,773	2,561	1,653	64.5	1,302	50.8

TABLE 9.2
Reported voting and registration, by selected characteristics, November 2000
[Numbers in thousands]

		Total citizen
			Reported registered		Reported voted
Characteristic	Total population	Total citizen	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Duration of residence
Less than 1 month	3,009	2,520	1,363	54.1	915	36.3
1 to 6 months	17,389	14,797	8,929	60.3	6,682	45.2
7 to 11 months	8,435	7,180	4,426	61.6	3,405	47.4
1 to 2 years	28,856	24,948	17,475	70.0	14,482	58.0
3 to 4 years	26,003	23,327	17,508	75.1	14,806	63.5
5 years or longer	99,886	96,192	78,767	81.9	69,638	72.4
Not reported	19,031	17,401	1,081	6.2	898	5.2
Region and race and Hispanic origin
Northeast	38,881	35,472	24,759	69.8	21,447	60.5
White	32,810	30,883	21,895	70.9	18,955	61.4
White non-Hispanic	30,194	29,175	20,916	71.7	18,179	62.3
Black	4,418	3,788	2,440	64.4	2,141	56.5
Asian and Pacific Islander	1,533	682	382	56.0	313	45.9
Hispanic (of any race)	2,978	1,930	1,094	56.7	873	45.2
Midwest	46,430	44,692	32,615	73.0	28,262	63.2
White	40,912	39,714	29,165	73.4	25,272	63.6
White non-Hispanic	39,426	38,903	28,698	73.8	24,885	64.0
Black	4,380	4,275	3,034	71.0	2,639	61.7
Asian and Pacific Islander	881	456	255	55.9	224	49.1
Hispanic (of any race)	1,561	870	500	57.5	418	48.0
South	71,835	67,153	46,321	69.0	38,441	57.2
White	56,912	53,420	37,109	69.5	30,859	57.8
White non-Hispanic	49,316	48,532	34,173	70.4	28,693	59.1
Black	13,080	12,542	8,534	68.0	7,049	56.2
Asian and Pacific Islander	1,322	698	365	52.3	293	42.0
Hispanic (of any race)	7,859	5,045	3,048	60.4	2,257	44.7
West	45,463	39,050	25,854	66.2	22,676	58.1
White	38,098	33,274	22,604	67.9	20,012	60.1
White non-Hispanic	29,099	28,121	19,801	70.4	17,711	63.0
Black	2,254	2,147	1,340	62.4	1,087	50.6
Asian and Pacific Islander	4,305	2,852	1,469	51.5	1,214	42.6
Hispanic (of any race)	9,201	5,314	2,904	54.6	2,386	44.9
SOURCE: Amie Jamieson, Jennifer Cheeseman Day, and Hyon B. Shin, "Table B. Reported Voting and Registration by Selected Characteristics: November 2000," in Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2000, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC, February 2002

Decline in Voting Participation

Since 1964 there has been a decline in the percentage of Americans who vote in presidential elections. In 1964, 69.3 percent of the voting-age population voted, compared to only 54.7 percent in 2000. (See Table 9.3.)

A general decline in the proportion of Americans who vote can also be seen in the various racial and ethnic groups. Among non-Hispanic whites (who were counted separately from Hispanic whites starting only in 1980), the percentage of the voting-age population that votes dropped from 62.8 percent in 1980 to 60.4 percent in 2000. In 1968, the first year that African-Americans were counted separately from other races, 57.6 percent of the voting-age population voted, compared to 53.5 percent in 2000. Among Hispanics, 37.5 percent of the voting-age population voted in 1972, while in 2000 only 27.5 percent voted. The number of Asians and Pacific Islanders who vote has been tracked only since the 1992 presidential election. In 1992, 27.3 percent of the API voting-age population voted, compared to 25.4 percent in 2000. (See Table 9.3.)

Reasons for Not Voting

Age seems to have an impact on one's likelihood to vote. Traditionally, the demographic group between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four has the lowest percentage of voters. In 2000, 32.3 percent of young adults between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four voted. As citizens age, however, they are more likely to vote. In 2000, 49.8 percent of the voting-age population between the ages of twenty-five and forty-four voted, 64.1 percent of those between the ages of forty-five and sixty-four voted, and 67.6 percent of those sixty-five years and over voted. (See Table 9.3.)

According to the Census Bureau, the number one reason people gave for not voting in the 2000 presidential election was that they were too busy, an excuse given by 20.9 percent of registered nonvoters polled. Other leading reasons were illness or emergency (14.8 percent), no interest (12.2 percent), out of town (10.2 percent), and dislike of all candidates (7.7 percent). (See Figure 9.2.)

TABLE 9.3
Reported voting in presidential election years, by demographic characteristics, November 1964–2000
[Numbers in thousands]

Characteristic	Presidential elections of—
	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000
United States
Total, voting age	110,604	116,535	136,203	146,548	157,085	169,963	178,098	185,684	193,651	202,609
Total voted	76,671	78,964	85,766	86,698	93,066	101,878	102,224	113,866	105,017	110,826
Percent voted	69.3	67.8	63.0	59.2	59.2	59.9	57.4	61.3	54.2	54.7
Race and Hispanic origin
White	70.7	69.1	64.5	60.9	60.9	61.4	59.1	63.6	56.0	56.4
White non-Hispanic	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	62.8	63.3	61.8	66.9	59.6	60.4
Black	158.5	57.6	52.1	48.7	50.5	55.8	51.5	54.0	50.6	53.5
Asian and Pacific Islander	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	27.3	25.7	25.4
Hispanic (of any race)	(NA)	(NA)	37.5	31.8	29.9	32.6	28.8	28.9	26.7	27.5
Sex
Men	71.9	69.8	64.1	59.6	59.1	59.0	56.4	60.2	52.8	53.1
Women	67.0	66.0	62.0	58.8	59.4	60.8	58.3	62.3	55.5	56.2
Age
18 to 24 years	250.9	250.4	49.6	42.2	39.9	40.8	36.2	42.8	32.4	32.3
25 to 44 years	69.0	66.6	62.7	58.7	58.7	58.4	54.0	58.3	49.2	49.8
45 to 64 years	75.9	74.9	70.8	68.7	69.3	69.8	67.9	70.0	64.4	64.1
65 years and over	66.3	65.8	63.5	62.2	65.1	67.7	68.8	70.1	67.0	67.6
Northeast, Midwest, and West
Total, voting age	78,174	81,594	93,653	99,403	106,524	112,376	117,373	122,025	125,571	130,774
Total voted	58,282	57,970	62,193	60,829	64,963	69,183	69,130	76,276	69,467	72,385
Percent voted	74.6	71.0	66.4	61.2	61.0	61.6	58.9	62.5	55.3	55.4
Race and Hispanic origin
White	74.7	71.8	67.5	62.6	62.4	63.0	60.4	64.9	57.4	57.5
White non-Hispanic	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	64.3	65.0	63.3	68.5	61.0	61.6
Black	172.0	64.8	56.7	52.2	52.8	58.9	55.6	53.8	51.4	53.1
Asian and Pacific Islander	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	27.9	26.3	26.1
Hispanic (of any race)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	29.8	32.8	26.8	27.4	26.3	26.8
South
Total, voting age	32,429	34,941	42,550	47,145	50,561	57,587	60,725	63,659	68,080	71,835
Total voted	18,389	20,994	23,573	25,869	28,103	32,695	33,094	37,590	35,550	38,441
Percent voted	56.7	60.1	55.4	54.9	55.6	56.8	54.5	59.0	52.2	53.5
Race and Hispanic origin
White	59.5	61.9	57.0	57.1	57.4	58.1	56.4	60.8	53.4	54.2
White non-Hispanic	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	59.2	59.8	58.5	63.6	56.7	58.2
Black	144.0	51.6	47.8	45.7	48.2	53.2	48.0	54.3	50.0	53.9
Asian and Pacific Islander	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	24.5	22.6	22.2
Hispanic (of any race)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	30.1	32.4	32.9	32.0	27.6	28.7
NA Not available
1Black category includes other races in 1964.
2Prior to 1972, data are for people 21 to 24 years of age with the exception of those aged 18 to 24 in Georgia and Kentucky, 19 to 24 in Alaska, and 20 to 24 in Hawaii.
SOURCE: Amie Jamieson, Jennifer Cheeseman Day, and Hyon B. Shin, "Table C. Reported Voting in Presidential Election Years by Region, Race, Hispanic Origin, Sex, and Age: November 1964 to 2000," in Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2000, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC, February 2002