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News Release

Last modified: Thursday, October 30, 2008

Election Day in Indiana by the numbers

Some statistics from the Indiana Business Research Center

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 30, 2008

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Just in time for Election Day next Tuesday (Nov. 4), the Indiana Business Research Center in Indiana University's Kelley School of Business has offered some interesting statistics:

Potential Voters in Indiana

• There are 4.7 million Hoosiers age 18 or older in Indiana. This means that three out of four Hoosiers are age-eligible for voting.
• Indiana had 4.5 million registered voters as of October.
• 40 percent of registered voters, or 1.725 million Hoosiers, voted in the 2008 primaries.

Looking back at the 2004 Presidential Election

• There were 4.5 million Hoosiers above the age of 18 in 2004. Of these, 66.8 percent reported to a census survey that they were registered to vote. Across the nation, 65.9 percent of the eligible population registered.
• 57.3 percent of Indiana residents 18 and older actually voted in the 2004 election. This was below the national number of 58.3 percent. Minnesota had the highest percent of population 18 and older who voted (76.7 percent), while Hawaii had the lowest turnout (46.2 percent).
• The highest percent of registered voters who actually voted was the 65-to-74 age group. In 2004, 91.2 percent of registered voters in this age group voted. Young registered voters -- those age 18 to 24 -- had the lowest turnout, with 78.4 percent casting a ballot.

Gender Wasn't a Deciding Factor in Indiana

• 57.1 percent of Hoosier men voted in 2004. The national figure for males was 56.3 percent.
• 57.4 percent of Hoosier females voted in 2004. For the entire United States, 60.1 percent of eligible women voted.

Why Didn't U.S. Citizens Vote?

• Of women who did not vote surveyed, 19.8 percent cited illness as their reason. The next most popular reasons for women was that they were too busy or had a conflicting schedule.
• Men said they were too busy -- 22.5 percent of men who did not vote cited that they were too busy or had a conflicting schedule (the most common reason across the entire national population). The next most common reason men gave for not voting was that they were out of town.

The Indiana Business Research Center is part of a national network of State Data Centers and acts as the official state representative to the Census Bureau on matters relating to the census and population estimates. The IBRC also develops and maintains STATS Indiana, the award winning, state-supported Web service (www.stats.indiana.edu).

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