AFRICAN AMERICANS FLEX THEIR GROWING ELECTORAL MUSCLE

Released: December 26, 2012

The Growing Electoral Clout of Blacks Is Driven by Turnout, Not Demographics

by Paul Taylor

Overview

Blacks voted at a higher rate this year than other minority groups and for the first time in history may also have voted at a higher rate than whites, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of census data, election day exit poll data and vote totals from selected cities and counties.

 

 

Unlike other minority groups whose increasing electoral muscle has been driven mainly by population growth, blacks’ rising share of the vote in the past four presidential elections has been the result of rising turnout rates.

 

 

These participation milestones are notable not just in light of the long history of black disenfranchisement, but also in light of recently-enacted state voter identification laws that some critics contended would suppress turnout disproportionately among blacks and other minority groups.

 

 

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Related:
In 2012 Election, African American Voters Surpassed White Turnout For The First Time Ever by Igor Volsky, April 18, 2013