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Article: Voter Registration
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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VOTER REGISTRATION
VOTER REGISTRATION
is a government responsibility in most European countries; in the United States, it is a task each voter must accomplish individually. From 1968 through 2000, 87.5 percent of registered voters cast ballots in American presidential elections. But in 2000, only 69.5 percent of citizens of voting age were registered. White and black registration rates were comparable (70 percent and 68 percent), but rates for Asian American and Hispanic citizens were substantially lower, at 52 and 57 percent, respectively. It is the double barrier of achieving registration and turning out to vote that accounts for the
notoriously low American participation rates: ...