How elections are won and lost begin with which eligible Americans are engaged in the process. A new report released today by Project Vote, a nonpartisan voting rights think tank, highlights the importance of voter registration programs in lower income, youth, and minority communities. In “Who Votes in the Bluegrass State: The Composition of Kentucky’s Electorate, 2002-2006,” author Benjamin Spears finds that registered Whites and non-Whites vote at similar rates, 68 percent to 67 percent, but that non-Whites are disadvantaged by lower registration rates. Sixty-seven percent of eligible non-Whites are registered to vote while 74 percent of eligible Whites are registered to vote.
Benjamin Spears, author of Project Vote’s report, stated, “Black Kentuckians vote at nearly the same rate as Whites when registered to vote, but Blacks still lag behind Whites by six percentage points in registration rates. Voter registration drives play a critical role in making Kentucky’s electorate better reflect its voting-eligible population.”
“Although Kentucky’s voting eligible population has declined slightly since 2002, minority voter participation and youth voter registration has picked up rapidly. The state’s population is becoming younger and more diverse, and the electorate is beginning to follow suit. However, lower income voters are still trying to catch up to their wealthier peers, who surpass them by almost 50 percentage points. This demonstrates that there is still work to be done in ensuring that all eligible voters are equally represented at the polls and have their concerns addressed,” Spears concluded.
Who Votes in the Bluegrass State describes the social and demographic characteristics of who voted and who did not from 2002-2006, and finds that 100,000 new younger voters registered (a five percent increase.) This follows a demographic shift as the elderly declined by 80,000 in population between 2002 and 2006, while the “under 30” group swelled by approximately 120,000 people. The study also finds that just 33 percent of voting-eligible persons earning less than $25,000 in 2006 voted compared to 80 percent of persons earning more than $75,000.
Who Votes in the Bluegrass State is the first report to analyze just-released data on the 2006 election by the US Bureau of the Census. Every November in even years, the Census Bureau adds a battery of questions regarding voting to its monthly Current Population Survey (CPS). The responses to the CPS have been a preeminent source of data for social scientists seeking to understand voting behavior.