People of color make up nearly 30% of eligible voters in the US, but cast just over 22% of all votes – a significantly smaller share of the vote relative to their representation in the voter population, according to a new analysis.
As the gap in voter turnout between people of color and white people continues to widen, the study broke down the numbers showing how Latinos, Asian Americans and Black people are persistently underrepresented in the electorate – which, as evidenced by Guardian reporting, is not in small part due to voter-suppression efforts.
The study shows that between 2010 and 2020, the US saw a 35% rise in the overall numbers of Asian Americans, 23% for Latinos and 6% for Black people, while the white population declined by 2%. Still, election results are shaped by white voters, despite their eligible voter population increasing in that time by less than 3%.
White people in 2020 accounted for 67.6% of eligible voters, but they made up 75.1% of the share of voters who cast a ballot due to higher turnout, resulting in overrepresentation among actual voters.
“We know that disparities in turnout by race and ethnicity are entrenched in our electoral system,” Mindy Romero, the lead author of the report and director of the center for inclusive democracy at the University of Southern California, said.
Voter turnout among Black Americans is higher compared with that of other racial groups, and in the 2012 presidential election, Black turnout surpassed white turnout for the first time.
“Who’s on the ballot matters,” Romero said.
Turnout differences when Barack Obama was running for president may reflect how Black voters care more when Black candidates are on the ballot. But between midterm elections, the share of Black people who voted dropped as registration rose, according to the report.
The year 2020 saw a record number of 154.6 million people turn out for the presidential election, and people of color made up a substantial share of the voters. People of color, especially Black voters, play a pivotal role in the outcomes of presidential elections, but their participation in midterms is notably declining.
Nearly 40% of eligible Black voters cast a ballot in the 2018 midterm election, but that number fell to 32.2% in 2022. At the same time, voter registration among Latinos and Asian Americans went up, though this did not result in increased voting during midterms.
“Black voters can vote in really high numbers, but they still face challenges to turnout, and we see those disparities at play now,” Romero said.
While Black people are projected to account for 14% of eligible voters in the upcoming presidential election, there are significant barriers they face in taking part in the voting process.
Mississippi has the largest share of Black voters, at 37%, followed by Georgia, a swing state, where they make up a third of eligible voters. But stringent voter ID laws, aggressive gerrymandering and harsher sentences for errors in voter registration in states like those are some of the barriers for Black voters in casting a ballot.
“There’s outright voter-suppression efforts still happening in the US,” Romero said.
Election reform and persistent outreach are effective ways to reach millions of eligible non-voters of color ahead of the 2024 elections, she added, saying: “Mobilization efforts, funding and support for voting and targeting education all make a difference for the Black vote as it does for other groups, too.”
