According to recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 5 million more new people voted in 2008 over 2004 (over all turnout remained at 64%). But it's the composition of those new voters that bodes well for the future of the Democratic agenda. More than 90% of those new voters were minorities: 2 million more blacks, 2 million more Hispanics and 600,000 more Asians.
Those new voters helped to increase voting rates among all three groups by at least 4 percentage points while non-Hispanic whites decreased by 1 point.
Although they still represented the lowest turnout group, there was progress in voters aged 18-24 as that demo group represented the only age group with a statistically significant increase in 2008, reaching 49% turnout compared to 47% in 2004. (Voters aged 45-64 and 65+ still had the highest rates at 69 percent and 70 percent, respectively.)
So what fueled those increases? Check out this chart among minority voters:
Some other key takeaways from the data:
In 2004, according to the census, barely 60 percent of eligible blacks voted. In 2008, nearly 65 percent did (as did 66 percent of white voting-age citizens).
But one of the biggest changes was the gap between black and white participation. In 2004, the rate of black voter registration was 10 percentage points below that of whites. Last year, it narrowed to four percentage points.
Not only that, but among voters aged 18-24 and 25-44, blacks voted at a higher rate than whites in 2008.
Rounding out the data, of the 206 million citizens aged 18 and older eligible to vote, 71 percent were registered and among those, 90 percent ultimately turned out. So who didn't?
Over all, 18 percent of nonvoters said they were too busy, 15 percent said they were prevented because of an illness or disability and 13 percent each said they were not interested or did not like the candidates or issues.
That strong minority support helped President Obama win the key swing states, but it's also important to note that he won the white vote in 19 states and improved over 2004's numbers in terms of the total amount of white vote received (-12 points versus -17 points in 2004).
The data are the latest to highlight the demographic conundrum facing the Republican Party, which in 2008 lost several red states to Mr. Obama largely because it couldn't compete among minority voters. This demographic challenge isn't going away, as non-Hispanic whites are expected to account for less than 50% of the U.S. population by 2042.
"Democrats are getting the growing parts of the population: Young people, minorities and states people are moving to," William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution who blended the Census data on voter turnout with poll data from Voter News Service, said.
Sources:
Voting and Registration in the Election of 2008
2008 Surge in Black Voters Nearly Erased Racial Gap
Minority Turnout Was Critical to Obama's Election, Data Show
Minorities, youth showed some gains in 2008 vote