Showing posts with label voting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label voting. Show all posts

Monday, October 31, 2016

Selected Characteristics of the Citizen Voting-Age Population

The U.S. Census Bureau released selected characteristics of the citizen voting-age population from the 2015 American Community Survey for all U.S. states and congressional districts.

These characteristics include selected age groups, sex, race, Hispanic origin, educational attainment, poverty status and household income.


Thursday, February 25, 2016

Demographic and Economic Profiles of States Holding March 1 Primaries and Caucuses

In advance of the March 1 primaries and caucuses, the U.S. Census Bureau presents a variety of statistics that give an overall profile of each participating state’s voting-age population and industries. Statistics include:
·        Voting-age population and estimate of eligible voters (i.e., citizens age 18 and older).
·        Breakdown of voting-age population by race and Hispanic origin
·        Selected economic characteristics, including median household income and poverty.
·        Selected social characteristics, including educational attainment.
·        County Business Patterns (providing information on employment by specific industries).
·        Statistics on voting and registration.

Monday, December 28, 2015

The Effects of Lawn Signs on Vote Outcomes

Lawn signs are one of the few campaign tactics deployed by candidates for every level of government in the United States. Inexpensive and relatively easy to deploy, lawn signs are a tactic available to even the most obscure and underfunded candidate for a down-ballot office. Indeed, the efflorescence of roadside lawn signs is often one of the few outward manifestations of a low-salience election.

Although campaign tactics ranging from door-to-door canvassing to robotic phone calls have been evaluated by a vast array of field experiments conducted during the past fifteen years, lawn signs have largely escaped scholarly attention.

Working in collaboration with a congressional candidate, a mayoral candidate, an independent expenditure campaign directed against a gubernatorial candidate, and a candidate for county commissioner, we tested the effects of lawn signs by planting them in randomly selected voting precincts.


More from Science Direct

Friday, July 17, 2015

Congressional Voting Turnout is at Lowest Mark Since 1978


Congressional Voting
The 2014 congressional election turnout rate of 41.9 percent was the lowest since the U.S. Census Bureau first began asking Americans about voting and citizenship status in 1978. The 2014 voting rate was 7.0 percentage points lower than in 1978 and down from the 45.5 percent that reported voting in the 2010 congressional election.
These statistics come from Who Votes? Congressional Elections and the American Electorate: 1978-2014, which uses data collected by the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey. This report provides a detailed historical portrait of voters in congressional elections, and it examines voting patterns by age, race and Hispanic origin and includes a look at early and absentee voting.
The voting rates of every age group between 18 and 64 also dropped between 1978 and 2014, while the voting rate in 2014 for those over 65 was not statistically different from 1978. 

Friday, May 16, 2014

Voting Patterns of Young Adults

Voting rates among young adults fell to 38.0 percent in 2012 from 44.3 percent in 2008 following increases in two consecutive presidential elections (2008 and 2004), according to a U.S. Census Bureau report on age and voting patterns.

These statistics come from Young Adult Voting: An Analysis of Presidential Elections, 1964-2012, which uses data collected by the Current Population Survey. The report provides a detailed 50-year historical portrait of voters with a specific focus on young adults.

In every U.S. presidential election from 1964 on, 18- to 24-year-olds voted at lower rates than all other age groups. In contrast, Americans 65 and older have voted at higher rates than all other age groups since the 1996 election.

“The young-adult voting gap closed somewhat from 2000 to 2008 but opened up a bit again in 2012,” said Thom File, a sociologist in the Census Bureau’s Social, Economic and Housing Statistics Division. “Age-based voting patterns are not set in stone. For example as recently as 1992, the nation’s oldest voters did not vote at a level higher than all other age groups.”

State Level Voting

Voting rates also varied by state according to the report. Although 18- to 29-year-olds voted at lower levels than other age groups nationally in 2012, this result was not geographically uniform.

“Although young adults have been historically less inclined to vote than older individuals, in 2012 young voters were more engaged in states where older populations were highly engaged as well,” File said. “At the very least, this suggests that low voting rates among young adults can vary according to geography and other factors.”

Gender and Age Differences

Voting rates have also varied according to age and gender. Women tend to vote at higher rates than men across most age groups. In every election since 1996, women age 18 through 29 voted at higher rates than men of the same age, with a difference of about 8.0 percentage points in 2008. For older Americans, a gender voting gap has operated in reverse, with men 65 and older voting at higher rates than women of that age in every election since 1996. At about 6.5 percentage points, this differential was larger in 1996 than in the two most recent elections, with older men voting at a higher rate than older women by about 3.7 percentage points, an indication that the gender divide among older voters may soon be a thing of the past.

Online Data Tools: Voting Report

In addition to the report, the Census Bureau released an interactive Voting Report that provides comparisons of voting and registration patterns by demographic, social and geographic characteristics for the U.S. and states.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

2008-2012 American Community Survey Voting Age Population by Citizenship and Race

This tabulation from the 2008-2012 American Community Survey shows estimates of the citizen voting age population by race for small areas of geography.

The downloadable files show the population 18 and older by citizenship status and race for the nation, states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, counties, minor civil divisions, places, tracts and block groups. The files reflect both the population living in housing units and in group quarters, such as college dormitories. The new files and technical documentation along with previous versions of the files can be found on the Census Bureau’s Redistricting Data website.

This is the fourth year in a row that the American Community Survey has produced estimates of this population for even the smallest geographic areas. Prior to the American Community Survey, communities would have to wait 10 years for an update on the citizen voting-age population.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Blacks Voted at a Higher Rate than Whites in 2012 Election

About two in three eligible blacks (66.2 percent) voted in the 2012 presidential election, higher than the 64.1 percent of non-Hispanic whites who did so, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released today. This marks the first time that blacks have voted at a higher rate than whites since the Census Bureau started publishing statistics on voting by the eligible citizen population in 1996.

These findings come from The Diversifying Electorate — Voting Rates by Race and Hispanic Origin in 2012 (and Other Recent Elections), which provides analysis of the likelihood of voting by demographic factors, such as race, Hispanic origin, sex, age and geography (specifically, census divisions). The report draws upon data from the November 2012 Current Population Survey Voting and Registration Supplement and looks at presidential elections back to 1996. Using the race definitions from 1968 and the total voting-age population, whites voted at higher rates than blacks in every presidential election between 1968, when the Census Bureau began publishing voting data by race, and 1992.

Blacks were the only race or ethnic group to show a significant increase between the 2008 and 2012 elections in the likelihood of voting (from 64.7 percent to 66.2 percent). The 2012 increase in voting among blacks continues what has been a long-term trend: since 1996, turnout rates have risen 13 percentage points to the highest levels of any recent presidential election. In contrast, after reaching a high in 2004, non-Hispanic white voting rates have dropped in two consecutive elections. Between 2008 and 2012, rates for non-Hispanic whites dropped from 66.1 percent to 64.1 percent. As recently as 1996, blacks had turnout rates 8 percentage points lower than non-Hispanic whites.

Overall, the percentage of eligible citizens who voted declined from 63.6 percent in 2008 to 61.8 percent in 2012.

Both blacks and non-Hispanic whites had voting rates higher than Hispanics and Asians in the 2012 election (about 48 percent each).

“Blacks have been voting at higher rates, and the Hispanic and Asian populations are growing rapidly, yielding a more diverse electorate,” said Thom File, a sociologist in the Census Bureau’s Education and Social Stratification Branch and the report’s author. “Over the last five presidential elections, the share of voters who were racial or ethnic minorities rose from just over one in six in 1996 to more than one in four in 2012.”

Between 1996 and 2012, blacks, Asians and Hispanics all had an increase in their shares of the voting population, with the Hispanic share increasing by about 4 percentage points and the black share by about 3 points.

The number of blacks who voted rose by about 1.7 million between the 2008 and 2012 elections. Likewise, the number of Hispanics who voted increased by 1.4 million and the number of Asians by 550,000. At the same time, the number of non-Hispanic white voters declined by about 2 million ─ the only such drop for any single-race group between elections since 1996. The figures for blacks and Hispanics are not significantly different from each other.

Gender and Age Differences

The report also shows that the “gender gap” in voting persists. In every presidential election since 1996, women have voted at higher rates than men. In 2012, the spread was about 4 percentage points. The gap was especially wide among black voters, among whom it reached 9 percentage points in 2012. Asians are the only race or Hispanic-origin group that showed no significant gender gap.

There were large declines in youth voting among all race groups and Hispanics in 2012. Non-Hispanic whites age 18 to 24 and 25 to 44 showed statistically significant voting rate decreases, as did young Hispanics 18 to 24 years of age. The only race/Hispanic-origin/age combinations showing voting rate increases in 2012 were blacks ages 45 to 64 and 65 and older.

Other highlights:
--Voting rates increase with age: in 2012, the percentage of eligible adults who voted ranged from 41.2 percent for 18- to 24-year-olds, to a high of 71.9 percent for those 65 and older.

--Although blacks voted at higher rates than non-Hispanic whites nationally in 2012, this result was not uniform across the country. In the East North Central, East South Central, Middle Atlantic, and South Atlantic divisions, blacks voted at higher rates than non-Hispanic whites. In the Mountain and Pacific divisions, non-Hispanic whites voted at higher rates than blacks. In the New England, West North Central and West South Central divisions, voting rates for the two groups were not significantly different from each other.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Electoral college reform (fifty states with equal population)

The electoral college is a time-honored, logical system for picking the chief executive of the United States. However, the American body politic has also grown accustomed to paying close attention to the popular vote. This is only rarely a problem, since the electoral college and the popular vote have only disagreed three times in 200 years. However, it's obvious that reforms are needed.

The fundamental problem of the electoral college is that the states of the United States are too disparate in size and influence. The largest state is 66 times as populous as the smallest and has 18 times as many electoral votes. This allows for Electoral College results that don't match the popular vote. To remedy this issue, the Electoral Reform Map redivides the fifty United States into 50 states of equal population. The 2010 Census records a population of 308,745,538 for the United States, which this map divides into 50 states, each with a population of about 6,175,000.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Register to Vote - Find Registration Deadlines, Locations, and More

On November 6, 2012, citizens across the U.S. will vote for the next president, as well as other state and local offices.

Almost every state has a voter registration deadline, but it's not too late to register. This can help you find your state's voter registration deadline, information about how and where to register, and voter eligibility.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Voting Hot Report: State-Level Maps and Graphs on Voting

The Census Bureau released a menu-driven, interactive Web page permitting users to access for any state a series of graphs showing percentages of adults who voted and registered in every congressional and presidential election between 1996 and 2010. In addition to graphs showing voting and registration trends over the period, users may choose a given election year and find separate graphs showing voting and registration by one of the following characteristics: age, sex, educational attainment, and race and Hispanic origin. Some analysis of the 2010 election is provided as well, as are thematic maps of states showing percent voting during each election. The statistics come from the Current Population Survey. To access this page, go to the Voting and Registration page and click on “Voting Hot Report.”

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Peak Affluence, Cell Phones and What It Takes to be Middle Class

American Consumers Newsletter

1. Hot Trends: PEAK AFFLUENCE, HOUSING VALUES, SELF-EMPLOYMENT, VOTING, CELL PHONES, AND MORE
2. Q & A: WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE MIDDLE CLASS?
3. Cool Links: HOUSEHOLD INCOME INDEX; DEMOGRAPHIC CHARTBOOK; 2010 CENSUS REPORTS: BLACKS AND WHITES
4. Reference Tools: AMERICAN HOMES, AMERICAN MARKETPLACE, WHO WE ARE: ASIANS, BLACKS, and HISPANICS

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

2011 Determinations of Political Jurisdictions Subject to Minority Language Assistance Provisions of the Voting Rights Act

Pursuant to specifications in the Voting Rights Act as amended in July 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau released today a list of 248 jurisdictions across the nation that must provide language assistance during elections for groups who are unable to speak or understand English adequately enough to participate in the electoral process.

The list identifies which jurisdictions are covered by Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act and must provide language assistance for Hispanic, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Asian language groups. The Census Bureau has made these determinations following each decennial census since Section 203 was enacted in 1975. In 2006, Congress specified that the Census Bureau shall use statistics from the American Community Survey to make the determinations following the 2010 Census.
The 248 covered jurisdictions are 3.1 percent of the 2,920 counties and 4,972 minor civil divisions that comprise the political subdivisions in the United States. There are 79,245,487 voting-age eligible citizens in the covered jurisdictions, or 33.8 percent of the total U.S. voting-age population. The determinations found a total national population of 19,209,431 voting-age citizens from the language minority groups that reside in the 248 covered jurisdictions, compared with 13,463,635 and 296 jurisdictions in 2002, an increase of 42.7 percent. The determinations found a total of 14,794,716 Hispanics, 4,030,110 Asians and 384,605 American Indian/Alaskan Natives voting-age citizens in the covered jurisdictions.
Consistent with the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act in 2006, the determinations were processed using data from the 2005-2009 American Community Survey estimates. Census Bureau statisticians also used modeling techniques based on the 2010 Census population counts to improve the accuracy of the results.

A complete listing of which jurisdictions are covered, and for which language minority groups, can be found on the Federal Register Notice Public Inspection site. For more information, please visit HERE.

These are the jurisdictions in New York State:

Bronx County………………………………………………………………………………. Hispanic
Kings County……………………………………………………………………………….. Asian (Chinese)
Kings County……………………………………………………………………………….. Hispanic
Nassau County…………………………………………………………………………….. Hispanic
New York County…………………………………………………………………………. Asian (Chinese)
New York County…………………………………………………………………………. Hispanic
Queens County……………………………………………………………………………. Asian (Asian Indian)
Queens County……………………………………………………………………………. Asian (Chinese)
Queens County……………………………………………………………………………. Hispanic
Queens County……………………………………………………………………………. Asian (Korean)
Suffolk County……………………………………………………………………………… Hispanic
Westchester County……………………………………………………………………. Hispanic

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Voting Law Changes in 2012

Source: Brennan Center for Justice

Ahead of the 2012 elections, a wave of legislation tightening restrictions on voting has suddenly swept across the country. More than five million Americans could be affected by the new rules already put in place this year -- a number larger than the margin of victory in two of the last three presidential elections.

This report [PDF] is the first full accounting and analysis of this year's voting cutbacks. It details both the bills that have been proposed and the legislation that has been passed since the beginning of 2011.

+ Link to the appendix [PDF], "a compilation of potentially vote-suppressing legislation proposed in the 2011 legislative sessions."

+ Link to the overview [PDF], a four-page summary with key findings

Monday, May 2, 2011

The Latino Electorate in 2010

More than 6.6 million Latinos voted in last year's election—a record for a midterm—according to an analysis of new Census Bureau data by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center. Latinos also were a larger share of the electorate in 2010 than in any previous midterm election, representing 6.9% of all voters, up from 5.8% in 2006...

However, even though more Latinos than ever are participating in the nation's elections, their representation among the electorate remains below their representation in the general population. In 2010, 16.3% of the nation's population was Latino, but only 10.1% of eligible voters and fewer than 7% of voters were Latino.

More HERE from the Pew Hispanic Center.

Friday, January 7, 2011

States Gaining Congressional Seats have More Hispanics

From Hispanic Busainess:

States set to gain congressional representatives have larger Hispanic populations than other states, the Pew Hispanic Center said Wednesday.

The center analyzed 2010 Census data. Researchers found the percentage of eligible voters that are Hispanic in states gaining seats is 15.2 percent. Those states that are losing seats or remaining flat average 5.4 percent...

Monday, November 1, 2010

Where Do You Vote?

Here's a national search engine as to where you vote, providing even the hours the polls are open.

Here's a New York State lookup. "To use this page, you must be a registered voter in the New York State." You also need the date of birth of the voter. The upside is that it provides voter district information, such as one's Election District, County Legislative District, State Senate District, State Assembly District, Congressional District, Town or City, and Ward. It also provides the party affiliation, in case you've forgotten.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Before they vote: Send Them a Postcard

Want to make sure your friends and family are informed about just who they're voting for in the upcoming midterms?

With an unprecedented amount of money flowing into this year's midterm elections, help your friends and family follow the money by sending a customized postcard or three right from this website - no stamps necessary - about the elections happening in their community.

Each postcard will show the industries and organizations that contribute the most to the candidate (or candidates) you choose. Make it personal by writing a note to tell your friend or family member about why you want them to see the money and influence this political season.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Vote - 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

And if you need to find your county board of elections to find polling places, offices to be filled, etc, go here.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Voter Registration Problems Major Factor in 3 Million Americans’ Inability to Vote in 2008

As many as three million registered voters did not cast a ballot in the 2008 General Election due to voter registration problems, suggests a survey cited by Doug Chapin, director of Election Initiatives for the Pew Center on the States in testimony before the Subcommittee on Elections of the Committee on House Administration. The problem was most acute for younger voters and registered voters who moved less than a year ago, one in four of whom said that a problem with their registration was a major reason why they did not cast a ballot.