Race-Related Differences in Self-Reported and Validated Turnout in 1984

Black Americans are less likely to participate in politics than white Americans are, but many students of political participation have argued that these differences result solely from racial differences in socioeconomic status. We questioned these conclusions by analyzing vote validation studies in which local registration and voting records were used to measure electoral participation. We also suggested that racial differences in turnout might be decreasing, and that controls for socioeconomic status and region might eliminate or reverse racial differences in future elections, even if participation were measured with the validated data. The 1984 SRC-CPS vote validation study is used to update our findings. Our expectations about the decline of racial differences were not fulfilled. Rather, the 1984 results are essentially similar to those we reported earlier: Racial differences in turnout are larger when the validated vote is used to measure electoral participation, and differences remain even after controls for region and level of education are introduced.