Sixty-four
percent of U.S. citizens age 18 and over voted in the 2004 presidential
election, up from 60 percent in 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau reported
today. Tables from a November survey also show that of 197 million
citizens, 72 percent (142 million) reported they were registered
to vote. Among those registered, 89 percent (126 million) said
they voted. In the 2000 election, 70 percent of citizens were
registered; and among them, 86 percent voted.
Other highlights from the Voting and
Registration in the Election of November 2004 online tables pertaining
to the voting-age citizen population:
- In 2004, turnout rates for citizens were
67 percent for non-Hispanic whites, 60 percent
for blacks, 44 percent for Asians and 47 percent
for Hispanics (of any race). These rates were
higher than the previous presidential election
by 5 percentage points for non-Hispanic whites
and 3 points for blacks. By contrast, the
voting rates for Asian and Hispanic citizens
did not change. These data pertain to those
who identified themselves as being of a single
race. (See Table 1. [Excel])
- Minnesota had the highest citizen-voting
rate at 79 percent, and North Dakota the highest
citizen-registration rate at 89 percent. (See
Table 2. [Excel])
- Citizens age 65 and older had the highest
registration rate (79 percent) while those
age 18 to 24 had the lowest (58 percent).
The youngest group also had the lowest voting
rate (47 percent), while those age 45 and
older had the highest turnout (about 70 percent).
(See Table 1. [Excel])
- Among citizens, turnout was higher for women
(65 percent) than for men (62 percent). The
turnout rate for people with a bachelor’s
degree or higher (80 percent) was greater
than the rate for people whose highest level
of educational attainment was a high school
diploma (56 percent). (See Table 1. [Excel])
- Seventy-three percent of veteran citizens
cast ballots, compared with 63 percent of
their nonveteran counterparts. (See Table
1. [Excel])
Voting rates in the online tables
are calculated using the voting-age population, which includes
citizens and noncitizens.
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The
data are from the November 2004 Voting and Registration Supplement
to the Current Population Survey (CPS). Statistics from surveys
are subject to sampling and nonsampling error. The CPS estimate
of overall turnout (125.7 million) differs from the “official”
turnout, as reported by the Clerk of the House (122.3 million).
For further information on the source of the data and
accuracy of the estimates, including standard errors and confidence
intervals, go to <http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/voting.html>. |