WASHINGTON — Nearly one-fourth of voters in November’s election were minorities, the most diverse election ever, fueled by high turnout from black women and a growing Latino population, an independent research group found.
The study released Thursday by the Pew Research Center showed that, for the first time, blacks had the highest voter turnout rate of any racial or ethnic group among people ages 18 to 29.
Analysts said it remained to be seen how fully the strong minority participation, a reflection of both changing U.S. demographics and enthusiasm for Democrat Barack Obama, would carry over to future elections.
In 2008, about 65 percent of blacks eligible to vote went to the polls, nearly matching the 66 percent voting rate for whites. Black women had the highest rates of participation among all voters at 69 percent; they were followed by white women (68 percent), white men (64 percent) and black men (61 percent).
Pew’s analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data found that whites cast about 100 million, or 76 percent, of the 131 million total ballots in November, compared with 79 percent in 2004. It was the sharpest percentage drop in more than a decade.
Blacks, meanwhile, had their sharpest increase in voter participation in more than a decade, with 15.9 million casting ballots to make up 12.1 percent of the electorate. Blacks previously had seen their share decline to 11 percent in 2004 after their low turnout in Republican George W. Bush’s re-election.
Latinos also had gains in voting share, mostly due to their growing population. Latino voters helped Obama flip the states of Colorado, Florida, Nevada and New Mexico.
