| Percent Voting by Age, Gender, Educational Attainment, Race, and Family Income: November 2000 Presidential Election* |
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Source: Current Population Survey. (full source, footnote) |
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Full Source: Current Population Survey: Voter Supplement File, November 2000
[Computer file]. ICPSR release. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Commerce,
Bureau of the Census [producer], 2001. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university
Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2004.
Additional tabulations are available from the Bureau of the Census at
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/voting.html.
Full Footnote: Turnout is measured as the percentage of respondents who reported voting who also reported that they were U.S. citizens at least eighteen years of age divided by all valid respondents plus those with no response. Respondents were asked: "In any election, some people are not able to vote because they are sick or busy or have some other reason, and others do not want to vote. Did (you/name) vote in the election held on Tuesday, November 7?"
Survey-based measures typically over report actual turnout compared with more objective measures. The Federal Election Commission (FEC), for example, measures turnout as total votes cast divided by the Census Bureau's estimates of the voting age population. For the 2000 presidential election the FEC reported nationwide turnout of 51.3% and Texas turnout of 43.2%. These figures are, respectively, 8.2% and 10.9% lower than the Current Population Survey estimates in the table. Surveys over report turnout for various reasons. For example, nonvoters tend to be harder to find and less likely to respond. Pre-election surveys may have a mobilizing effect, i.e., some respondents will vote or say they plan to vote because having been selected to respond encouraged their participation. Misreports also occur though rarely because a respondent intends to provide false or misleading responses. Most misreports stem from memory lapses or attempts to please or impress an interviewer with socially desirable responses.
Full Footnote: Turnout is measured as the percentage of respondents who reported voting who also reported that they were U.S. citizens at least eighteen years of age divided by all valid respondents plus those with no response. Respondents were asked: "In any election, some people are not able to vote because they are sick or busy or have some other reason, and others do not want to vote. Did (you/name) vote in the election held on Tuesday, November 7?"
Survey-based measures typically over report actual turnout compared with more objective measures. The Federal Election Commission (FEC), for example, measures turnout as total votes cast divided by the Census Bureau's estimates of the voting age population. For the 2000 presidential election the FEC reported nationwide turnout of 51.3% and Texas turnout of 43.2%. These figures are, respectively, 8.2% and 10.9% lower than the Current Population Survey estimates in the table. Surveys over report turnout for various reasons. For example, nonvoters tend to be harder to find and less likely to respond. Pre-election surveys may have a mobilizing effect, i.e., some respondents will vote or say they plan to vote because having been selected to respond encouraged their participation. Misreports also occur though rarely because a respondent intends to provide false or misleading responses. Most misreports stem from memory lapses or attempts to please or impress an interviewer with socially desirable responses.