Nearly one-fourth of voters in last November's election were
minorities, the most diverse election ever, fueled by high
turnout from black women and a growing Hispanic population, an
independent research group found. The study by the Pew Research
Center, released Thursday, also showed that for the first time
blacks had the highest voter turnout rate of any racial or
ethnic group among people ages 18 to 29. Analysts said it
remained to be seen how fully the strong minority participation,
a reflection of both changing U.S. demographics and enthusiasm
for Democrat Barack Obama, would carry over to future elections.
In 2008, about 65 percent of blacks went to the polls, nearly
matching the 66 percent voting rate for whites. Black women had
the highest rates of participation among all voters at 69
percent; they were followed by white women (68 percent), white
men (64 percent) and black men (61 percent). Pew's analysis of
census data found that whites cast about 100 million, or 76
percent, of the 131 million total