2016 Voter Statistics- We need to do better this time.
A record number of 137.5 million Americans voted in the 2016 presidential election; however,
that only represents 61.4% of eligible voters.Voting rates tend to vary by race and age. 2016 was one of the two election cycles since 1980 that black voter turnout decreased. Not surprisingly, white voters had the highest voter turnout. The hispanic population had the lowest. These numbers have been fairly consistent since the 1980s. One interesting statistic I found is that for the two largest immigration groups- Asian and Hispanic turnout was higher among naturalized citizens rather than US born citizens. This is inspiring!
Another not surprising statistic: older americans tend to vote at higher rates than younger americans. This was the case again in 2016, with ages 18-29 being the lowest represented age group and 65+ being the highest. The turnout rate was higher among millennials than in previous elections, but they were still the least represented group.
You can read more about voting turnout and statistics on the census website here: https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2017/05/voting_in_america.html
These are important statistics to keep in mind. It seems voter and political interest are at unprecedented levels, but action needs to extend beyond interest. People should vote! If the primaries are any indication of how the fall election is going to go, we are going to see similar voting trends as last election and the years before. It seems the government is doing it’s best to keep those non-white, young voters from turning out, but we need to not let that happen. Show up! Speak up! There are so many of us, and we have the power to change things.
SOURCES:
https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2017/05/voting_in_america.html
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/historic-turnout-in-2020-not-so-far/
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