Our voting age participation rate is better than the national and state rates, but was lower in 2006 than any of the prior four elections. The participation rate for City elections took a downturn in the last two elections. The area volunteerism rate is better than the national average, but lower than some of our peer city areas. There are many opportunities to volunteer within our community.

INDICATORS

• 41.1 Voting Age Participation by Election Type
• 41.2 Resident Volunteer Rate

  LOCAL TREND:

The local trend is mixed. While turnout for national elections is high, the turnout for city elections has been getting worse. The volunteer rate is generally positive, improving at the City level with a very high rate, but when measured and compared at the MSA level, not as high. There are many opportunities for volunteerism in Albuquerque, which has over 3,000 not-for-profit organizations.

  NATIONAL/REGIONAL COMPARISON:

Albuquerque (Bernalillo County) voting age turnout (VAP) is high in elections with federal or gubernatorial races, exceeding the national and state VAP rates and most all of our neighboring states in every election (except Colorado). Comparative data on volunteerism is available at the MSA level and while our rate is higher than the national rate, it is lower than the Austin, Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City, and Denver MSAs.

  CITIZEN PERCEPTION:

In 2007, relative to other conditions in Goal 7, this condition was not rated as high in importance, nor did residents think that much progress had been achieved.

Opportunity to Improve	LOCAL TREND IS:	Mixed
	ALBUQUERQUE, COMPARED TO OTHERS, IS:	Similar
	CITIZEN PERCEPTION COMPARED TO DATA:	Mixed

NOTE: For help in understanding this page, see Creating a Community Report Card.