The System and Voter Turnout

The Geographic Representation System and its Impacts on Voter Turnout

The America of today is more diverse than ever. With the white majority slowly dwindling because of lower birth rates and lower immigration rates from European countries, America is slated to be a majority-minority country by 2050. American politics, however, are still overwhelmingly white. From representatives to turnout, white people participate at rates much higher than other demographics in American politics. All of this raises the question - Who isn't participating in American politics? 

This entry will address specific turnout rates within different demographic groups. All of this data will be from the Pew Research Center. 

Voter turnout rose in 2018 across racial, ethnic groups | Pew Research Center

I will be focusing on the 2018 midterm elections because of the historic turnout amongst all ethnic groups for a midterm election. 

In this election, 57.5% of eligible white voters participated, 51.4% of eligible black voters participated, 40.4% of eligible Hispanic voters participated, and 40.2% of eligible Asian voters participated. 

Unsurprisingly, white voters had the highest turnout. With the least systemic barriers to voting, a history of high voter turnout, and more representation in Congress compared to their proportion of the American population, this statistic is not surprising. 

Black voters are the only other demographic that voted above 50% in this election. This can be traced back to the civil rights movement when black voters began participating in the electoral process in droves. Furthermore, because America has a geographic representation system, and Black Americans tend to live in dense urban areas, they are overrepresented in Congress compared to their proportion of the American population. I would argue having high levels of representation would encourage the electorate to participate. 

Hispanic participation and Asian participation were almost equivalent in this election. Both of these groups are underrepresented in Congress, however, the Hispanic population is more spread evenly across the country, while Asian Americans tend to live in cities. The geographic system would in theory help the Asian American population with representation however, does not in modern-day America. Because Asian Americans are a newer demographic in the American electorate, with the bulk of Asian migration happening in the past 30 years, it may take more time for this group to become proportionally represented. Furthermore, this group only makes up a majority of the population of the three counties in the United States.

This geographic representation system however does not benefit the Latino population. Because Latinos only make up a majority of the population in a handful of counties in the southwest and are a sizable minority across much of the west as opposed to having a more concentrated population center, like black Americans, they are not well represented under the current system. 

Much of voter turnout can be traced back to pre-existing representation, which is why many of these cycles can be difficult to change. However, congress tends to be moving in the right direction in terms of representation. The 118th Congress was the most diverse ever, with many of these gaps between the proportion of representatives of each ethnic group and their share of the population percentage shrinking. Especially amongst Asian Americans. Asians now make up 4% of Congress and their population share of the US is 6%. (The 117th Congress was 3% Asian). With gaps in representation shrinking, gaps in turnout amongst different ethnic groups should soon follow.