Today Project Vote has released a new research memo, Analysis of the 2008 Current Population Survey (CPS) Voter and Registration Supplement. This memo by research consultant Douglas R. Hess (author of the previous Project Vote report Representational Bias in the 2006 Election) analyzes newly released U.S. Census Bureau survey data and finds that the composition of the 2008 voting population was markedly different from 2004.
In addition to finding an increase in the diversity of the population eligible to vote, the analysis shows that African-American, Latino, and other minority groups experienced substantial gains in participation, as did Americans under the age of 30. The lack of an overall increase in the turnout rate appears to be due to a slight drop in the participation of the much larger communities of White and older voters. The largest turnout rate gains were among young minority Americans, who turned out to vote at approximately 5 to 10 percentage points higher, depending on the group, than in 2004. While the CPS does not ask about partisanship, or for whom Americans voted, it seems likely that this difference had a real and powerful impact during the past election cycle.
Download this new research memo here.
Read the press release on this memo here.