Where do I find info on who votes?

[URY914]

I want to know what percentage of voters are male, female, black, white, young, old etc... I hear so much talk about "winning the ______ vote". I what to know just what we're talking about here.

Website please.

[URY914]

Bump. No one here knows?

[71T Targa]

I always thought (total guess) that it was from the exit polls. ie, as you're walking out of the voting booth someone says "Hey, who'd ya vote for" then they write it down.

Again, just a guess...

[Racerbvd]

I'll have to look, but yes, they do exist. When I was on the REC, we would get a "list" that would tell who was registered as R, D or I and how they voted, right next to their address

[mattdavis11]

Who administers the election in which you are interested? Are you looking nation wide? It all depends on state election law as to who will have the information. I know that the Secretary of my State has the information, but I don't know if they have all that information available to me unless I file an open records request. My county also has it since they administer the elections.

It looks like in Florida, the SOS has it. Having a summary of all the categories like age, sex, gets pretty cumbersome to put together. But it looks like race is alive and well in Fla. Pick an election. http://election.dos.state.fl.us/voterreg/vrArchive/2006voterreg.shtml

[URY914]

I was looking for nationwide percentages. I want to know things like, if women make up 51% of the population what % of women vote in the election? Blacks make up ##% of the population but only XX% of blacks vote, etc...

Obama is "winning the young vote". What % of people under 25 vote?

[71T Targa]

I don't understand how they can know this. When I go to vote, I check in and that is the last time my name or anything else identifying me gets logged. There's nothing on the ballot that would say it was me, and they get sent through the reader in a random order so it's not like they can tell from that.

[mattdavis11]

Polls. Gallup is pretty accurate. Big money in analyzing demographics.

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by phred68

I don't understand how they can know this. When I go to vote, I check in and that is the last time my name or anything else identifying me gets logged. There's nothing on the ballot that would say it was me, and they get sent through the reader in a random order so it's not like they can tell from that.

Ballots have #s and they match when you sign in.

[URY914]

In examining previous presidential election years prior to 2008, the numbers make this point clear. Of the total voting age population:

* In 2004, 60.1% of women and 56.3% of men voted.
That's 67.3 million women and 58.5 million men - a difference of 8.8 million.
* In 2000, 56.2% of women and 53.1% of men voted.
That's 59.3 million women and 51.5 million men - a difference of 7.8 million.
* In 1996, 55.5% of women and 52.8% of men voted.
That's 56.1 million women amd 48.9 million men - a difference of 7.2 million.

Compare these figures to a generation ago:

* In 1964, 67% of women and 71.9% of men voted.
That's 39.2 million women and 37.5 million men - a difference of 1.7 million.

For both genders, the older the voter, the greater the turnout up through age 74. In 2004, of the total voting age populations:

* 44.9% of women and 38.8% of men 18-24 years old voted
* 55% of women and 48.8% of men 25-44 years old voted
* 68.3% of women and 65.9% of men 45-64 years old voted
* 69.4% of women and 72.5% of men 65-74 years old voted

The numbers drop slightly for voters 75 years and up - 63.9% of women and 71% of men voted - but still significantly outstrip young voters.

The Center for American Women and Politics also notes that this gender difference holds true across all races and ethnicities with one exception:

Among Asians/Pacific Islanders, Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites, the number of female voters in recent elections has exceeded the number of male voters. I found this...

While the difference in voter turnout rates between the sexes is greatest for Blacks, women have voted at higher rates than men among Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites in the last five presidential elections; in 2000, the first year for which data are available, Asian/Pacific Islander men voted at a slightly higher rate than Asian/Pacific Islander women.

In 2004, of the total voting age population, the following percentages were reported for each group:

* Asian/Pacific Islander - 30.5% of women and 29% of men voted
* Black - 59.8% of women and 51.8% of men voted
* Hispanic - 30.9% of women and 25.2% of men voted
* White - 62% of women and 58.6% of men voted

In non-presidential election years, women continue to turn out in greater proportions than men. And women outnumber men among registered voters. In 2004, 75.6 million women and 66.4 million men reported they were registered voters - a difference of 9.2 million.

[URY914]

From About.com...

African Americans were the only race or ethnic group to defy the trend of declining voter participation in congressional elections, according to data from the 1998 elections by the Census Bureau. Records show that African Americans increased their presence at the polls from 37 percent in 1994 to 40 percent in 1998.

Nationwide, overall turnout by the voting-age population was down from 45 percent in 1994 to 42 percent in 1998 -- about 3 million fewer voters in 1998 than in 1994.

Turnout by Whites declined from 50 percent to 47 percent from 1994 to 1998, while Asian and Pacific Islander turnout fell from 22 percent to 19 percent and Hispanic turnout remained at 20 percent.

Turnout also declined across all age groups and for men and women. For example, 35 percent of 25- to 44-year-olds cast ballots in 1998, down from 39 percent in 1994.

Reasons for Not Voting

Of the 40 million people who said they registered but did not vote in the 1998 election, about one-third reported they were "too busy" or had conflicting work or school schedules. Another 13 percent were not interested or felt their vote would not make a difference.

Voter Turnout Highlights

# The West and Midwest states recorded the highest voting rates in 1998, led by Minnesota (66 percent), while the South had the lowest (Virginia was at 31 percent).

# Among voting-age citizens, the lowest voting rates by age were for 18- to 24-year-olds, where a ratio of slightly less than 1 in 5 voted. The age group with the highest voting participation was 55- to 74-year-olds; more than 3 in 5 in this age group cast ballots.

# Women (46 percent) were slightly more likely than men (45 percent) to vote in 1998, continuing a trend that started in 1986.

# About 5 in 10 homeowners said they voted, compared with 3 out of 10 renters. About one-half of those living in families who voted had family incomes of more than $50,000.

# In 1998, voting-age citizens who had bachelor's degrees were nearly twice as likely (6 in 10) to have voted as those who had not completed high school (3 in 10).

Voter Registration Highlights

# Voter registration between 1994 and 1998 increased for African Americans (from 59 percent to 61 percent) and Hispanics (from 31 percent to 34 percent). The rates for Whites (68 percent) and Asians and Pacific Islanders (29 percent) were the same in both elections.

# Of the 198 million people of voting age in 1998, 62 percent said they were registered to vote. This is not significantly different from the percentage registered in the 1994 and 1990 congressional elections.

# More than two-thirds of citizens in the Midwest were registered to vote. North Dakota (91 percent) and Minnesota (83 percent) had the highest registration rates, while many of the states with lower rates were in the West (Nevada had 52 percent).

# The percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds who were registered to vote declined from 42 percent in 1994 to 39 percent in 1998. There was no significant change for people ages 25 to 44 years.

[DavidB911]

While I will say getting any voter is good, I wouldn't rely on the 18-24 year olds. I think they don't vote as often because they are often too far to vote. I remember a Dem candidate had the 18-24 year old crowd in the last presidential election and still lost.

[MRM]

You can get raw voter data from the local county or secretary of state, depending on where you live. You can get the name and address and which elections the person voted in and which party primary they voted in. That's about it from public data and you have to get it yourself. The states I've lived in would sell you the voter lists. For the demographic breakdown they're relying on polling data and no one will ever let you see the raw data for that.