Title: Dissecting the 2008 Electorate: Most Diverse in U.S. History | Pew Research Center
Headings: Dissecting the 2008 Electorate: Most Diverse in U.S. History
Dissecting the 2008 Electorate: Most Diverse in U.S. History
I. Overview
Comparing the Census Bureau’s Turnout Estimate with the Reported Vote Tally
About this Report
A Note on Terminology
Facts are more important than ever

Content: Prior to 2008, the gap had always run in the opposite direction, with variances ranging between a low of 2.8% (in 2004) and a high of 11.6% (in 1988). Since the 1996 presidential election, the gap has narrowed steadily, and in 2008, the lines crossed for the first time. Election experts and scholars who have examined this gap over the years have theorized that it stems, at least in part, from a tendency of some Census Bureau survey respondents to report that they had voted even if they had not (Bernstein, Chadha and Montjoy, 2001). Another possible explanation is that in every election, some small portion of ballots are improperly cast and do not become a part of the official count—but the voters who cast such ballots report to the Census Bureau that they had voted. There is no consensus among experts to explain the recent convergence in the number of votes tallied by the states and those reported by the Census Bureau. One possibility is that there has been a decline in spoiled, uncounted ballots in recent elections. Another possibility is that there has been an increase in voting by U.S. citizens living abroad – a group that is not included in the CPS survey ( McDonald, 2009 ). A third possible explanation is that the accuracy of the CPS itself may have improved. About this Report
This report summarizes the participation and characteristics of voters in the 2008 presidential election. The data for this report are derived from the November Voting and Registration Supplement of the Current Population Survey.