In 2004, 122,294,978 people voted. In 2008, final turnout was approximately 131.3 million.
The Census Department estimate of the voting age population for 2008 is 227.7 million.
The percentage of eligible voters who actually voted was about 57.7%, up about 1% from 2004.
| Year | Total Pop. | Voting Age Pop. | Turnout | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 180,671,158 | 109,159,000 | 68,838,204 | 63.06% |
| 1964 | 191,888,791 | 114,090,000 | 70,644,592 | 61.92% |
| 1968 | 200,706,052 | 120,328,186 | 73,211,875 | 60.84% |
| 1972 | 209,896,021 | 140,776,000 | 77,718,554 | 55.21% |
| 1976 | 218,035,164 | 152,309,190 | 81,555,789 | 53.55% |
| 1980 | 227,224,681 | 164,597,000 | 86,515,221 | 52.56% |
| 1984 | 235,824,902 | 174,466,000 | 92,652,680 | 53.11% |
| 1988 | 244,498,982 | 182,778,000 | 91,594,693 | 50.11% |
| 1992 | 254,994,517 | 189,529,000 | 104,405,155 | 55.09% |
| 1996 | 265,189,794 | 196,511,000 | 96,456,345 | 49.08% |
| 2000 | 281,421,906 | 205,815,000 | 105,586,274 | 51.3% |
| 2004 | 293,655,404 | 221,256,931 | 122,294,978 | 55.3% |
| 2008 | 305,468,880 | 227.7 million | 131,300,000 (est.) | 57.7% |
Final Census 2008 Voting and Registration figures show that about 63.6 percent of all U.S. citizens ages 18 and older, or 131.1 million people, voted in November 2008.
That is an increase of 5 million voters — virtually all of them minorities. Turnout relative to the population of eligible voters was down from 63.8 percent in 2004.
Voters 18 to 24 were the only age group to show a statistically significant increase in turnout, reaching 49 percent in 2008 compared with 47 percent in 2004. Blacks had the highest turnout rate among 18- to 24-year-old voters — 55 percent, an 8 percent increase from 2004.
“The percentage of eligible voters who actually voted was about 57.7%, up about 1% from 2004.”
“Turnout relative to the population of eligible voters was down from 63.8 percent in 2004.”
What am I missing?
My inartful wording.
I think I’ll have to change the first quote to: The percentage of the voting age population who actually voted was 57.7%…. Census puts the voting age population at 225.5 million.
That is what the table above actually details. It appears as if the Census is using “eligible voters.” Census puts the voting eligible population at 206 million.
What’s really interesting if you think about it, is the very high percentage of the “eligible” black population which voted. If you accept the figures that somewhere around 10% of black males 18-25 are incarcerated (and thus ineligible to vote) then young black males have a disproportionately small percentage of eligible voters relative to population.
40.9% of all white males, 18-25, voted.
47.7% of all black males, 18-25, voted.