Demographics of the 2004 election
Washington Post:
More than 125 million Americans -- 64 percent of those ages 18 and older -- went to the polls in last year's presidential election, according to data scheduled to be released today by the Census Bureau.The agency's numbers, the latest in a series of portraits of the nation's electorate, included statistics illustrating the truism in politics that turnout rates among segments of the population vary -- sometimes widely -- with their demographic characteristics.
The bureau reported that women turned out at a slightly higher rate (65 percent) than men (62 percent). It found that non-Hispanic white citizens voted in proportionately higher numbers (67 percent) than African Americans (60 percent), Hispanics (47 percent) and Asians (44 percent). The agency said turnout rates increased from the 2000 election among whites (by five percentage points) and blacks (by three), but held steady for Hispanics and Asians.
Minnesota's turnout rate (79%) was the highest of the states; Hawaii's, the lowest (50%).
If everyone of the 125 million people who said they went to the polls actually did so, then there were roughly 3 million "under votes" in the presidential race. According to the National Archives and Records Administration, only 122,284,939 voters cast a ballot for a presidential candidate. Of course, a few folk are fibbin':
The agency said its numbers, which were taken from a November survey, are probably inflated because respondents tend to exaggerate how faithfully they go to the polls.
True that. But I know from my experience as an election judge in the 1980s that even though a voter drops a ballot in the can, it doesn't mean he marked a full ballot; some voters intentionally skip a race (or races) as a way of saying "none of the above," or "I can't decide" or even "I don't care." This is one of the reasons I was livid over Al Gore's tactics in the Florida re-recount debacle of 2000.
As you'll recall, for every ballot where no presidential choice was evident, Team Gore wanted election officials to "divine the intent of the voter" by examining the partisan affiliation of the voter's other choices. If the voter's choices in "down ballot" contests were heavily Democratic, Mr. Gore thought the ballot should have been counted for him. But that was hubris or desperation or both. When a race is left unmarked, the voter's intent is clear: not the other guy, but not you either.