Voter Turnout by Race

¿In the 2012 presidential election, what racial group had the highest voter turnout?

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PEW RESEARCH CENTER

1. How accurate was your prediction?

2. What most surprised you about the data?

3. Why do you think Black voters had the highest voting rate in 2012?

4. Explain one reason that Blacks and Whites generally vote at much higher rates than Hispanics or Asians?

5. What is one consequence of these different voter turnout rates?

6. Is this good news or bad news?

7. How much has the overall voter turnout rate changed over the 24 years depicted in this chart?

8. Based on the data in the chart, predict what voter turnout rates will look like 20 years from now.

9. If you were the head of a political party (you aren't), how might the data from the chart influence the kind of person you would choose to run for president in 2016?

10. What do you imagine voter turnout rates were like for non-Whites back in the 1940s and 1950s?

11. Even the highest voter turnout rate is less than 2/3 of any racial group. In the comments section, describe one component of the US voting process that limits voter turnout:

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Learning Extension

Read the entire earth shattering Pew Report on Voter Turnout in the 2012 election.

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Action Extension

In the past few years, my state, North Carolina, has worked very hard to make voting more difficult, especially for Black voters. Think about one thing your state legislature could do to increase, instead of decrease voter turnout and contact your state legislator to tell them what they should do.