FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2000 Public Information Office CB00-139 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-1037 (TDD) e-mail: pio@census.gov Jennifer Day 301-457-2464 Number of Hispanics Who Vote Up "Sharply," Census Bureau Reports More than one-half million more Hispanics voted in the congressional elections of 1998 than did in 1994, increasing this ethnic group's presence at the polls from 3.5 million to 4.1 million, according to new analysis today of a recent report by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau. "While the overall number of voters nationwide dropped by 2.6 million, the number of Hispanics going to the polls between 1994 and 1998 rose sharply," said Jennifer Day, co-author of Voting and Registration in the Election of November 1998, a report released in July. Day noted that the number of Hispanic citizens of voting age increased from 10.4 million in 1994 to 12.4 million in 1998. The overall turnout rate for Hispanic citizens of voting age was unchanged between 1994 and 1998 33 percent. Nationally, the turnout rate for all U.S. citizens of voting age fell from 48 percent in 1994 to 45 percent in 1998, which was the lowest participation rate recorded since the Census Bureau began collecting voting and registration data in 1964. The data in the report were collected in the November 1998 Current Population Survey (CPS) two weeks after the election. As in all surveys, data are subject to sampling variability and other sources of errors. The CPS routinely overestimates voter turnout. Possible reasons include understatement of actual votes cast; overreporting by survey respondents who want to demonstrate their civic responsibility; misreporting of voting because of refusals or lack of knowledge on the part of proxy respondents; and survey undercoverage. Table 1. Citizen Voting-Age Population, Number Voted, and Percent Voted, 1994 and 1998 (Numbers in thousands) Voting-Age Population|Number Voted | Percent Voted 1994 1998 1994 1998 1994 1998 Citizens 18 years and older Total 177,260 183,451 85,702 83,098 48.3 45.3 White 151,432 155,369 75,769 71,871 50.0 46.3 Black 20,829 22,074 8,095 9,223 38.9 41.8 Asian and 2,684 4,422 1,057 1,431 39.4 32.4 Pacific Islander Hispanic * 10,350 12,396 3,522 4,068 34.0* 32.8* White non Hispanic 142,357 143,650 72,614 68,068 51.0 47.4 Black non Hispanic 20,662 21,613 8,048 9,044 39.0 41.8 Asian and Pacific 2,632 4,344 1,038 1,404 39.4 32.3 Islander non Hispanic *Percent voted in 1994 and 1998 not significantly different. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey.