Echoing my previous findings about voter abstention by collusion, Politico is surprised to find that the much vaunted turnout was a myth
Despite widespread predictions of record turnout in this year’s presidential election, roughly the same portion of eligible voters cast ballots in 2008 as in 2004.
Between 60.7 percent and 61.7 percent of the 208.3 million eligible voters cast ballots this year, compared with 60.6 percent of those eligible in 2004, according to a voting analysis by American University political scientist Curtis Gans, an authority on voter turnout.
It seems registrations – real or not – were unprecedented, but not all showed up
gross number of ballots cast in 2008 was the highest ever, even though the percentage was not substantially different from 2004, because there were about 6.5 million more people registered to vote this time around.
And here comes my confirmation:
In 2004, turnout was 6 percentage points higher than in 2000. But Gans said he believed it did not spike more this year because fewer Republicans went to the polls
And here comes the shocker:
Still, some key states saw a decline in overall voter participation.
And you wouldn’t believe which states!
In Ohio, which has had aggressive GOTV campaigns in the past two presidential cycles, the number of voters appeared to decline from 5,722,443 in 2004 to 5,595,966 in 2008, according to the final but unofficial tally by the Ohio secretary of state. Turnout in those years dropped from 72 percent to 67 percent.
SCOTUS must be so disappointed! They wanted voters so badly in Ohio
And early voting didn’t help turnout
Interestingly, Gans found that state efforts to make voting more convenient — for instance, through programs for early or mail-in voting — did not significantly boost turnout. Of the 14 states with the largest turnout increases, only six had so-called convenience voting initiatives, while in the 13 states with the greatest decline in voting, 12 had some form of convenience voting.
But, but, I don’t understand – the new base of the party…
And this is quite an admission from a site, article which prints “historical candidacy” every other word.
Update
c) The black vote made a huge difference; but young people did not.
9 comments
November 9, 2008 at 9:13 am
Grail Guardian
LOVE the graphic Edge! So very appropriate!
The numbers don’t surprise me at all. They reflect one simple strategy:
Right Wing Republicans made Barack Obama the President-Elect. Choke on that, Obots! You voted alongside the people that brought you:
The Iraq War
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Wall Street greed
George W. Bush stealing the 2000 election
The Patriot Act
Karl Rove
Rush Limbaugh
Conservative SCOTUS
The Anti-Abortion Battle
The Religious Right
Faith-based Initiatives
The Fence along the Mexican Border
Record Budget deficits
Ruined International Relations
and thousands of other popular hits!!
That’s some freakin’ change. Hope you’re plenty proud of your accomplishments! Karl Rove is laughing his ass off at you.
November 9, 2008 at 9:22 am
johninca
I’m against abortion, and I’m not sure why my position had to be juxtaposed with Karl Rove, Wall Street greed and a border fence.
Our experience in this election should have deterred the perpetuation of stale old stereotypes.
This election has already broken my heart; the last comment will probably do no more than jiggle the broken pieces around a bit, but I really could have done without it.
November 9, 2008 at 9:36 am
perries
this election was a heart breaker alright. I want to reserve my acceptance of this voter turnout narrative. How do we know how big a role fraud played, not just in adding to the tally in one column, but deleting from the tally in the other column? I know when I cast my vote I wondered if it would be counted. Wonder if it was?
November 9, 2008 at 9:42 am
Grail Guardian
johninca,
Actually, I’m against abortion as well (but Pro-Choice). The difference is, I (and I’ll bet you) didn’t stand in front of doctors offices with signs trying to scare off some frightened young girl who was trying to avoid getting pregnant in the first place. The Anti-Abortion Battle is not the same as being anti-abortion. Just like voting against a black man is not the same as racism.
November 9, 2008 at 10:52 am
Carolyn
I missed something in that analogy. But I happen to agree with John in Ca. This thing of turning on republicans because they didn’t win an election that a democrat couldn’t loose, where they were outspent by a gazillion dollars….why not put the blame where it likely belongs? Massive fraud, and yes, the people that brought you bush and cheney…but we don’t know who those shadow people are do we? Big mysterious money that cultivates “the” candidate since birth…for what? I guess we are going to find out. Leave the republicans alone and look into your own hearts. How many of you went into that booth and voted for O thinking your vote wouldn’t change anything and you were still being ideologically pure? Look at the members of your own party and what that party has come to stand for.
November 9, 2008 at 11:33 am
Grail Guardian
Carolyn,
1) It wasn’t really an analogy.
2) I am not a member of a political party (haven’t been for years). I refuse to subscribe to their corrupt and self-serving behavior.
3) We are, in essence, talking about the same thing: The New World Order, which is quite well served and manipulated by the radical right wing (apparently now the majority) of the Republican party and the radical left wing (unquestionably now the majority) of the Democratic party.
Sorry if people are offended by me calling it like I see it, but I gave up being Politically Correct a while ago:
http://insightanalytical.wordpress.com/2008/10/13/announcing-the-end-of-the-pc-era/
This election was lost by extreme right Republicans who refused to vote because John McCain wasn’t conservative enough and extreme left Democrats who refused to open their eyes for even half a second for fear of discovering the truth about their Messiah. Edge has presented the election stats several times. If you don’t like it, talk to someone who voted for Obama – not me! (BTW – you won’t find any of them here, unless they’re trying to antagonize us.)
November 9, 2008 at 12:15 pm
johninca
Don’t get me started on the Bushies– but please, the familiar sloganeering and stereotypes about Republicans won’t get us out of this mess.
If you look at the various fronts that have been pushing the New World Order, for example the Trilateral Commission and Bilderberger group, you will find that they include men of both parties, establishment conservatives and liberals. The Bilderbergers for example include such political hacks as Rumsfeld, Kissinger, Chris Dodd and Vernon Jordan.
November 9, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Wisewoman
Ha Ha. What I find not so amusing is that the people voted for the scum, Obama, who is most responsible for the economic melt down and the lost of serious monies in people’s retiremen funds and 401ks. If people ever find this out they will turn on him like a mad dog. He was one of the lawyers who sued Citibank in Chicago in federal court accusing them of discrimination in housing lending and won. Court entered consent decree mandating loans to people who couldn’t pay mortgage (Link 1). Democrats stopped Repubs from putting regulations on Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac & prevented proper oversite (Link 2). Democrats & Obama are most responsible for Wall Street melt down. THIS IS THE TICKING TIME BOMB THAT THE MSM DID NOT REPORT BECAUSE OBAMA WOULD HAVE LOST THE ELECTION AND IF KNOWN NOW WOULD DESTROY HIS PRESIDENCY.
Link 1: Legal document showing discrimination case, outcome, and attorneys of record. Find Obama’s name.
Link 2: Watch third (Bill Clinton at 8 min mark), twelfth, and fourteenth video down on right side of page.
http://clearinghouse.wustl.edu/detail.php?id=10112&search=source|general;caseCat|FH;orderby|caseName;
It is the greatest of all US scandals. How Obama & Dems destroyed the financial system with a socialist housing scheme and looting the GSEs for political money.
November 9, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Grail Guardian
johninca,
Yes, I know it won’t help, but I’ve got 2 years worth of frustration to blow off about this stuff and my original rant wasn’t meant to piss you off, just the Oborg.
And as I said, I’m not just disgusted with the radical Republicans, but also the radical Democrats and the lazy population in general.
I agree with you about the Tri Lats/Bilderbergers, but if you look at your list you can check them all off as either NeoCons or NeoProgs.