Young, minority voters surged to polls in '08

The numbers tell the story of President Obama's success -- get your voters out to the polls, and keep the other guy's away.

New Census Bureau data out today shows that while overall voter turnout in percentage terms was the same last November as four years earlier, participation increased substantially among groups most enthused about Obama and most excited about the prospect of the nation's first black president.

About 131 million people reported voting in last year's presidential election, an increase of about 5 million from 2004 -- including 2 million more black voters, 2 million more Hispanic voters, and about 600,000 more Asian voters.

Also, voters 18 to 24 years old were the only age group to show a statistically significant increase in turnout, reaching 49 percent in 2008 compared with 47 percent in 2004. Blacks had the highest turnout rate among young voters -- 55 percent, an 8 percentage point increase from 2004.

On the other side, the number of non-Hispanic white voters remained statistically unchanged, and older white voters were less likely to vote last November.

That caused the overall 2008 voter turnout to remain statistically unchanged -- at 64 percent -- from 2004.
"The 2008 presidential election saw a significant increase in voter turnout among young people, blacks and Hispanics," Thom File, a voting analyst with the Census Bureau's Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division, said in a statement. "But as turnout among some other demographic groups either decreased or remained unchanged, the overall 2008 voter turnout rate was not statistically different from 2004."

To see the detailed figures, click here.