+ your vote is your voice produced by the league of women voters® of oregon education fund

+

Your VoteIs Your Voice

Produced by the League of Women Voters® of Oregon Education Fund

+

Those who don’t vote allow others

to make important decisions for

them; low voter turnout may lead

to a different election outcome

than if voter turnout is high, and

one vote can make a difference.

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+Oregon Voting

• In Oregon:– Every two years, there are Oregonians who are eligible to

vote in an election, but choose not to vote.– In 2012, 1,095,940 eligible Oregonians did not vote in

the general election.– Officially, 1,354,826 REGISTERED voters did NOT vote in

the May 20, 2014 primary this year.– On a National level however, Oregon has one of the

highest participation rates with 82.8%* voting compared to a national average of 57.5% in the 2012 presidential election.

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+How Does the Country Vote?

• Voting patterns seem to differ between general locations

• Many voters in cities tend to vote for different candidates than those in rural areas

• Industrial regions and farming regions will also see differing election results

• Let’s look at a map of general voting patterns between Democrats and Republicans across the country:

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+2008: Red or Blue?

2008 Voter Pattern by CountyObama (Democrat) Victory: BlueMcCain (Republican) Victory: Red

• Which specific parts of the country appear to be mostly blue?

• Which parts mostly red?

+2008: Red or Blue?

2008 Voting Pattern by PopulationObama (Democrat) Victory: BlueMcCain (Republican) Victory: Red

• What happens to the map now that population is taken into account?

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Voter Turn-Out in Presidential Elections

What factors affect voter turn-out?

+Voter Turn-Out: Election Type First and foremost, voters are more likely the come

to the polls during Presidential Elections.

Turn-out is significantly lower during mid-term election years, such as 2010 and 2014

Generally, voters are also more likely to vote in General Elections rather than Primaries.

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+Voter Turn-Out: Education

Nationally, more voters vote in general elections than in primary elections.

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• In general, individuals with higher education credentials are more likely to turn out to the polls than those with less education.

+Voter Turn-Out: Age

AGE MATTERS - Young people are consistently underrepresented in every election.

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Voting and Registration by Age in US: 2012 General

+

For more information, contact the League of Women Voters® of Oregon Education Fundwww.VoteOregon.org/oregonmockelection

mockelection@voteoregon.org; 503-581-5722

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+Oregon’s 50% turnout requirement for tax measures

In 1997 – Oregon voters approved a ballot measure requiring 50% voter participation to pass most revenue measures (referred to as the “double majority”).

In 1998 – Oregon voters effectively repealed this requirement for Primary and General elections, but it still remains in effect for elections held at other times.

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