Compared to the 2012 presidential election, black voter turnout rates dropped last November while a greater percentage of whites went to the polls, new U.S. Census Bureau data released this week show.
The report sheds more light on voter trends between the 2012 election won by former President Barack Obama and the 2016 election of President Donald Trump.
In 2016, white turnout increased to 65.3 percent but decreased to 59.6 percent for blacks. In 2012, a greater percentage of blacks (66.6) voted than whites (64.1).
Younger voters were the only age group to show increased turnout in 2016. In 2012, 45 percent of those aged 18-29 voted. That rate rose to 46.1 percent in 2016.
Other highlights from the Census Bureau data:
Overall turnout similar: In 2016, 61.4 percent of the citizen voting-age population reported voting, near the 61.8 percent who reported voting in 2012.
White turnout defied historic trend: For only the second time since 1980, the overall percentage of voters in 2016 who were non-Hispanic white (73.3 percent) was not lower than in the previous presidential election.
Black turnout down across the board: Turnout rates decreased in 2016 for every age group of non-Hispanic blacks.
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