About two million more young people voted for president last November 4 than in the 2004 election, raising the percentage of people under the age of 30 who voted to 51 percent, according to a new report by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.
The third-highest showing of young voters — about 22 million, topped only by the turnout in 1992 and in 1972 — represented the third consecutive election in which the percentage of young voters increased, after a significant dropoff between the 1992 and 1996 elections.
The center, which is commonly known as Circle, found several trends in data from the U.S. Census, most notably that young black voters turned out in higher numbers than any other racial or ethnic group of voters since 1972. About 58 percent of black voters under the age of 30 participated in the election, higher than white (52 percent) and mixed-race (55 percent) young voters, and about 20 percentage points higher than young black voters in the 2000 election.
Young black voters appear to have been so inspired to vote that, in an inversion of normal voting patterns, more voted in Washington, D.C., than did older residents: 76 percent of D.C. voters age 18 to 29 voted, whereas 73.4 percent of voters age 30 and older did so.
Additionally, the report says, 62 percent of college-educated young people voted, whereas only 36 percent of young voters without college experience voted. Gender also played a role, with women outvoting men by about eight percentage points. —Megan Eckstein
