Get Out The Vote: Effective in the 2008 election?

With the interesting outcome of the 2008 Presidential Election, it is very intriguing to look at exit polls to see if all the get out the vote campaigns actually led minorities and the young to the voting booths.

Looking nationally, 11% of the voting population was voting for the first time, very similar to the new voter turnout in 2004. Among these new voters, nationally Obama received 69% of the vote, while McCain only received 30%.

Specifically, in regards to race, African Americans made up 11% of the overall voting population in 2004. However, in 2008, African Americans made up 13% of the voting population. Since this 2% increase may not necessarily be comprised of new voters, it is hard to say whether this increase is due to get out the vote efforts specifically, simply due to Barack Obama’s race, or because people who have voted in the past but stopped realized how important it is to vote again. Nevertheless, it is important to note that there was an increase in voter turnout among African Americans, showing that by 2012 there is a possibility for even more voter turnout from this voting bloc.

As for Latino voters, when comparing the turnout of Latinos in 2004 to the turnout in 2008 the get out the vote efforts may have actually made an impact. In 2004, Latinos only made up 8% of the voting population, but by 2008 they made up 9% of the population. With all the get out the vote campaigns directed at Latinos it does seem as if there was the potential to raise the numbers of Latino voters by more than 1%. Yet we cannot put down this 1% since it is still an increase and shows advancement in the voter registration and turnout. Looking at states that were specifically targeted by get out the vote efforts, there are great increases in the number of Latinos voting. Specifically, Voto Latino focused on the Latino population in Colorado. Looking at exit polls, this organization did in fact see results. In 2004, Latinos only made up 8% of voters, but by 2008 they made up 13%. These numbers show that Voto Latino did in fact have an impact on voter registration and turnout, proving that some get out the vote campaigns can be very effective. It appears that this get out the vote campaign was very effective in the manner in which they targeted both young and older Latinos together through telenovelas. With this voting increase, Latinos are becoming increasingly influential in the turnout of elections.

While there are specific get out the vote organizations, such as Voto Latino and ACORN, that focus directly on registering minorities, there are also many organizations that focus simply on registering young adults. These organizations, much like the organization that made the “don’t vote” video can claim success in this election. When comparing results of voter turnout between the ages of 18-29, in the 2004 election this age group only made up 17% of the electorate, while in 2008 this age group made up 18%. Once again, this 1% increase may seem very small but this age group had greater turnout than those in the age category of 60 and older. In 2004, the 60 and older age category trumped the 18-29 age group by 7%, but by 2008 the 18-29 age group beat out the 60 and older group by 2%. This shows that the targeting of younger age categories does actually have an effect on some individuals, causing them to register and vote in elections.

Just as many videos made this election cycle, and specifically the Voto Latino telenovelas explain, this push for voting in elections can not stop simply because the election is over. It is important to keep get out the vote campaigns registering people to vote even in non-Presidential election years since there is still a great need to vote in Congressional and local races, as well as voting on referendums and other reforms. Seeing how different this election was from any other election, it will be very interesting to compare the results to the turnout in 2012, especially among young adults and minorities.

For Further Reading:

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/#val=COP00p1
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/US/P/00/epolls.0.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5297138