Rising American Electorate Research
Our research team has steadily been compiling statistics and profiles that speak to the Voter Participation Center's core demographics and core issues.
Category: Rising American Electorate
September 11, 2015
Unmarried Women Could Decide 2016... if they Register.
By November 2016, for the first time more unmarried women than married women will be eligible to vote—meaning they could decide the election.
But only if they register and vote—and as of 2014, 22.4 million unmarried women (almost 40%) weren’t registered, including almost 10 million unmarried women under the age of 30.
Here’s a race/ethnicity and age breakdown of unregistered unmarried women:
| Group | # Unregistered |
| Unmarried White Women | 13,145,524 |
| Unmarried African-American Women | 3,913,991 |
| Unmarried Latinas | 3,722,100 |
| Unmarried Women 18-30 | 9,875,219 |
| Unmarried Women 30-50 | 5,405,848 |
| Unmarried Women 50+ | 7,155,603 |
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August 27, 2015
Map the Change: Registering the Rising American Electorate will Transform the Landscape
In our last post, we focused on the massive numbers of unmarried women who are not registered to vote in key 2016 states. But unmarried women are just one part of the Rising American Electorate (RAE), which also includes people of color and Millennials. Together they make up well over the majority—close to 57 percent—of the U.S. population eligible to vote, but in the 2014 general election they only cast 44% of the votes.
As this interactive map makes very clear, if even a small percentage of unregistered RAE voters register and vote in 2016, it would have an enormous impact on national, state and local elections.
Rising American Electorate Voter Registration by State
Hover your mouse over a state to see the numbers and percentages of unmarried women, people of color and Millennials who are not registered to vote.
Unregistered RAE By State
% of RAE Not Registered
25-29%
30-34%
35-39%
40-44%
45-49%
50-54%
55% +
Data Source: Current Population Survey: Voting and Registration Supplement, 2014. U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census
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August 12, 2015
IWPR/MomsRising Report: New overtime pay rules help single mothers, African-American and Hispanic women most
A new report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) and MomsRising.org finds that of women workers who aren’t eligible for overtime pay under the current rules, nearly half of single mothers (44 percent), African-American women (46 percent) and Hispanic women (48 percent) will gain a chance to earn overtime pay with the new overtime salary threshold rules proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Click here to read the report on IWPR’s website.
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August 11, 2015
Best Opportunities to Expand the 2016 Electorate
In 2016, the members of the Rising American Electorate (RAE)—unmarried women, people of color and Millennials aged 18-35—will make up at least 56 percent of the U.S. population eligible to vote. But right now, more than four in ten (42 percent) of the RAE are not registered to vote. The largest RAE subgroups that are least likely to be registered are Millennials, Hispanics and unmarried women. The greatest opportunity to expand the electorate so it reflects the changes in our population is through registration.
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July 28, 2015
2014 Census Data: The Registration and Voting Gap
Need more evidence for the need to engage the Rising American Electorate in midterm elections? Look no further than the 2014 U.S. Census data, which was released earlier this month. The numbers from the Census Bureau reinforce what other researchers found in the wake of the 2014 midterm elections—that while the Rising American Electorate had a sizeable majority of voting-eligible citizens, they cast a minority of the votes.
The registration and voting rates for married and unmarried women tell the same story as the RAE as a whole:
Among both unmarried women and the larger Rising American Electorate, the number of voters registered decreased substantially between 2012 and 2014. Those results are true despite increasing populations—perhaps in part because members of the Rising American Electorate tend to relocate more often than the general public as a whole, meaning they have to re-register at their new addresses.
That’s why the Voter Participation Center works year-round to register the Rising American Electorate—particularly focusing on people who are moving, young people approaching their 18th birthday, and other voting-eligible but unregistered Americans. Learn more about the work we’re doing.
If you agree with us that our mission to register, activate, and protect the voting rights for the Rising American Electorate is crucial in 2016 and beyond, we hope you’ll consider donating to help us fulfill that mission.
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July 15, 2015
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Feature
New U.S. Census Data and Unmarried Women
The U.S. Census Bureau released its latest information on U.S. Voting patterns.
The new data clearly demonstrates the growing political status of unmarried women from 1978 to last year.
There were 27.7 million unmarried women of voting age in 1978 and 56.8 million in 2014—an increase of more than 29 million. In 2014, the percentage of unmarried women who registered to vote was 60.5%, or about 2 percentage points higher than in 1978, the Census Bureau reported. But the share of single women who voted declined in the non-presidential elections years, from 39.2% in 1978 to 35.6% last year. (In 2012, the last presidential year, the percentage of unmarried women who registered was 68.6% and the voting turnout rate was 57.8%.)
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Unmarried Women: An Electoral Profile
Unmarried women, people of color and millennials (age 18-35) now make up the majority (56.7 percent) of the U.S. population. Unmarried women make up one of the largest shares of this Rising American Electorate (RAE).
Almost one of every two women is unmarried. By 2016, for the first time, the majority of women eligible to vote will be unmarried.
Unmarried women are at least 25 percent of the eligible voters in every competitive state.
There is a significant gap between the number of unmarried women who can vote and the number who do vote.
About one in three unmarried women is not eligible to vote.
In 2012, unmarried women and the entire Rising American Electorate overwhelming voted to reelect President Obama.
If only married women had voted in 2012, President Obama would not have been reelected.
Unmarried Women and the Rising American Electorate: A Deeper Dive
An in-depth demographic, economic and political look at unmarried women and the Rising American Electorate from Lake Research Partners.
An in-depth demographic, economic and political look at unmarried women and the Rising American Electorate from Lake Research Partners.
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Rising American Electorate Research
Our research team has steadily been compiling statistics and profiles that speak to the Voter Participation Center’s core demographics and core issues. We’re proud to present these statistics and profiles to you.
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July 9, 2015
Voter Participation Research: The Affordable Care Act
An analysis from the VPC research team on recent legal, demographic, and electoral developments surrounding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009, commonly known as “Obamacare.”
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An analysis from the VPC research team on recent legal, demographic, and electoral developments surrounding the Affordable Care Act.
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July 9, 2015
Voter Participation Research: Statistical Profile of Unmarried Women
A statistical profile of unmarried women in the United States, put together by our research team using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and other governmental and nongovernmental sources.
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A statistical profile of unmarried women in the United States, put together by our research team.
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