florida votes
As I’m sure you have heard, McCain won half of Florida’s Republican delegates, and Clinton won the Democratic straw poll. Also, you overwhelmingly voted to pass Amendment 1, choosing to grab a bit of cash now instead of just hoping there is some later.
It looks like about 40% of registered voters made their way to the polls yesterday, higher than any other primary election since 1988. In Hillsborough, at least 37% voted in the election, while Polk County set a record with 39% turnout. 40% of Pasco made it to the polling places, 41% of Pinellas County voters cast ballots, and Hernando County saw a 45% voter turnout.
So how does that compare to past elections? Steve Bousquet knows:
Strong turnout, but not a record
The highest turnout for a presidential preference primary in Florida was 58 percent in 1972, the year of the state’s first primary, and the first year 18-year-olds could vote. Richard Nixon would go on to be re-elected over George McGovern. Primary turnout in Florida has generally declined steadily since then, to a low of 19 percent in 2000 and 20 percent in 2004.
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January 30th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
There are a million stories out there today quoting the same statistics; turnout of 38% not as high as 58% in 1972.
Though no reporters bothered to look up exactly how many people actually voted in 1972, it’s worth mentioning that, back then, Florida was a much smaller state.
The Florida Division of Elections only posts turnout reports and results for the past 30 years. This explains why no reporters had the actual number. A cursory search of the web reveals nothing except that telling 58% number. So, the hacks proceed to pontificate on 58, 38, 58, 38…
Looking at the number of Florida voters who were registered in 1972 (2,583,154), it’s easy then to apply 58% and deduce that only about 1.5 million people voted in the 1972 Florida primary. In fact, with 3.85 million people voting, yesterday was Florida’s “highest turnout” for a presidential preference primary.
Percentage of the vote is usually the most telling. However, it maddens me the way Bousquet and others throw 58% around with such great authority. 58% of what? Did they bother to look it up? Why was turnout in the 1972 primary so relatively high? What comparisions can be made between that election and this one?
January 30th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Imagine how many more voters there would have been had the Democratic National Committee not given Florida the finger.
Maybe they won’t want my vote in November, either.