The turnout rate of black voters surpassed the rate for whites for the first time on record in 2012, as more black voters went to the polls than in 2008 and fewer whites did, according to a census report released Wednesday.
The survey also found that Hispanics and Asians continue to turn out at much lower rates than other groups, and that women turn out at higher rates than men. The increase in black turnout was driven in significant part by more votes from black women.
According to the census report, 66.2 percent of eligible blacks voted in the 2012 election, compared with 64.1 percent of eligible non-Hispanic whites. An estimated 2 million fewer white Americans voted in 2012 than in 2008, just as about 1.8 million more blacks went to the polls, more than 90 percent of them voting to re-elect President Obama, exit polls showed.
“In 2008, we changed the guard. In 2012, we guard the change,” said Michael Blake, who ran the Obama campaign’s effort to reach out to black and minority voters, Operation Vote.
The overall turnout rate nationwide was 61.8 percent in 2012, a decline from 63.6 percent four years earlier. Researchers cautioned that their estimates might overstate how many people voted across the board, because they are based on surveys in which people were asked whether they had voted — a “socially desirable” activity.
The increase in black turnout seemed to stem from both energized voters and a successful voter-mobilization effort by the Obama campaign. Many black voters were motivated not only to protect the president, political organizers said, but also to demonstrate their own right to vote. In several states, Republican legislators tried to heighten voter-ID requirements, limit voting times and make registration more difficult, efforts that civil rights groups aggressively opposed.
“We are accustomed to people trying to deny us things, and I think sometimes you wake the sleeping giant, and that’s what happened here,” said Marvin Randolph, the N.A.A.C.P.'s senior vice president for campaigns.
Mr. Randolph added that voter education efforts drove many blacks to the polls early. The black early vote was 17 percent higher in 2012 than it was in 2008 in Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio and Michigan.
“They stood in line so they wouldn’t get their vote denied,” Mr. Randolph added.
Thom File, the census report’s author, said in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, “Blacks for the first time in 2012 actually voted at rates higher than their eligibility would indicate.”
The census study also found a significant gender gap, with women voting at a 4-percentage-point higher rate than men (among blacks, the gap was 9 percentage points). The youth vote also dropped significantly after gains in 2008: 41.2 percent of Americans ages 18 to 24 voted in 2012, down 7.3 percentage points.
The survey also found that Hispanics and Asians continue to turn out at much lower rates than other groups, and that women turn out at higher rates than men. The increase in black turnout was driven in significant part by more votes from black women.
According to the census report, 66.2 percent of eligible blacks voted in the 2012 election, compared with 64.1 percent of eligible non-Hispanic whites. An estimated 2 million fewer white Americans voted in 2012 than in 2008, just as about 1.8 million more blacks went to the polls, more than 90 percent of them voting to re-elect President Obama, exit polls showed.
“In 2008, we changed the guard. In 2012, we guard the change,” said Michael Blake, who ran the Obama campaign’s effort to reach out to black and minority voters, Operation Vote.
The overall turnout rate nationwide was 61.8 percent in 2012, a decline from 63.6 percent four years earlier. Researchers cautioned that their estimates might overstate how many people voted across the board, because they are based on surveys in which people were asked whether they had voted — a “socially desirable” activity.
The increase in black turnout seemed to stem from both energized voters and a successful voter-mobilization effort by the Obama campaign. Many black voters were motivated not only to protect the president, political organizers said, but also to demonstrate their own right to vote. In several states, Republican legislators tried to heighten voter-ID requirements, limit voting times and make registration more difficult, efforts that civil rights groups aggressively opposed.
“We are accustomed to people trying to deny us things, and I think sometimes you wake the sleeping giant, and that’s what happened here,” said Marvin Randolph, the N.A.A.C.P.'s senior vice president for campaigns.
Mr. Randolph added that voter education efforts drove many blacks to the polls early. The black early vote was 17 percent higher in 2012 than it was in 2008 in Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio and Michigan.
“They stood in line so they wouldn’t get their vote denied,” Mr. Randolph added.
Thom File, the census report’s author, said in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, “Blacks for the first time in 2012 actually voted at rates higher than their eligibility would indicate.”
The census study also found a significant gender gap, with women voting at a 4-percentage-point higher rate than men (among blacks, the gap was 9 percentage points). The youth vote also dropped significantly after gains in 2008: 41.2 percent of Americans ages 18 to 24 voted in 2012, down 7.3 percentage points.