When Do We Vote?

Americans have more opportunities to vote than the citizens of any other nation. In addition to congressional elections every two years and presidential elections every four, Americans have the opportunity to vote for state governors, state legislators, county commissioners, mayors, city counselors, state and local judges, and a wide variety of other officials. Not only do voters have the ability to select the winner on election day, but they also have the opportunity to vote in primary elections to decide which candidates will represent each political party in the final contest. Several states also hold “runoff” elections in cases where no candidate gains a majority of the votes in a primary election. Given the number of offices that are popularly elected and the system of primaries, runoffs, and general elections and the fact that elections are often scheduled at different times of the year and in alternating years, it is not unusual for voters to have several opportunities to vote each year.

While Americans have numerous opportunities to vote, many voters are selective. As the table below (Table 6–1) indicates, fewer eligible voters register to vote and actually turn out to vote in non-presidential election years, such as 2002. In a presidential election year, however, voter turnout generally tops 50 percent, as it did in 2004.

)

Who Votes?

The table below (Table 6–2) includes registration and voter data for various groups of eligible voters in 2004. As the data in the table indicates, older generations are more likely to vote than younger generations, women are slightly more likely than men to be registered and vote, and whites are more likely than are minorities. Also, people who are employed are more likely to vote than those who are unemployed. The greatest impact on levels of registration and voter turnout, however, appears to be education.