Program on Public Life

New:

• Since January 2008, more than 186,800 voters have registered in North Carolina.  Of those:

           105,549       have been Registered Democrats.
             14,354        have been Registered Republicans.
             66,898       have registered without affiliation.
             64,868       have been African American.

• In the last 40 years, the highest percentage turnout (25%) and the highest number Presidential  Primary voters (1,101,211) was in 1984.  That year, 960,857 (42%) of Registered Democrats voted in the primary election for President and 140,354 (17%) of Registered Republicans voted in the primary election for Governor.  (Reagan ran unopposed in the Presidential primary.)  
• • By comparison, in 2000 the overall turnout was 867,439 voters, or about 14% of the voting age population.  That year, there were 544,922 votes cast in the Democratic primary and and 322,517 votes cast in the Republican primary.   This means that in the last four month North Carolina has  newly registered more than 1/5 as many voters as who voted in the 2000 primary.  
  • There are 39 counties with more than 1,000 of new voters since January 1.  Mecklenburg and Wake counties have had more than 20,000 new voters, 2/3 of whom were Registered Democrats and 1/3 of whom were unaffiliated.  Forsyth, Durham, Guilford, and Cumberland counties each had over 8,000 new voters.    For a complete list of new voters,  click here.
• In states that are similarly sized to N.C., the turnout in 2008, for both GOP and Democratic candidates, has been between 24% and 39%.  For example, in Georgia 28% of the voting age population voted in the primary; 24% in Virginia; 25% in New Jersey; 39% in Ohio; and 31% in Pennsylvania. (link to http://elections.gmu.edu/Voter_Turnout_2008_Primaries.htm)  If the turnout rate in North Carolina is 30% of the voting age population, the state will see 2,075,316 voters on May 6.  A turnout of 25% would yield 1,729,430 voters, and turnout of 35% would yield 2,421,202 voters.

For a complete rundown of votes cast in the 2000 and 2004 primaries by county and party, click here. 

NC DataNet, April 2008, available now.

 With North Carolina approaching its May 6 primary elections for president, U.S. senator, governor and other state offices, NC DataNet offers a look at trends in voter participation – and the differences between turnout in primaries and general elections. This issue builds on earlier issues that sketched the modern “political geography’’ of North Carolina and offered a three-decade history of election results.

In addition, the Program on Public Life has also assembled the county-by-county turnouts in Democratic and Republican primaries for governor and U.S. senator in this decade. All 100 counties are listed in descending order by the total votes cast in each primary election. The complete publication can be accessed here.

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• Interested in NC and Southern Regional Voting & Electoral Data? Check out our DataPacks. 

Spotlight:

Carolina Seminar on Coastalization

The UNC Program on Public Life hosted the third Carolina Seminar on Coastalization on March 7, an event that featured as a special guest former Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco. This seminar focused on the importance of disaster preparedness and of long-term recovery for economically distressed communities.  Discussion leaders included Bill Ross, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources; state Rep. Pricey Harrison; Gavin Smith, director of the new UNC-based Center of Excellence for the Study of Natural Disasters, Coastal Infrastructure and Emergency Management; and John Cooper of MDC Inc., a nonprofit research firm in Chapel Hill that works in the rural South.

During her visit to Chapel Hill, former Governor Blanco delivered the annual Charleston Alumni Lecture of the Center for the Study of the American South.  You may download the text of her lecture, “Lessons from Katrina,” here.

OUR PUBLICATIONS

The Program publishes three newsletter-type publications: NC DataNet on North Carolina Demographic and electoral trends; SouthNow on regional politics and issues; and Carolina Context white papers on North Carolina topics.  Current issues can be accessed below and archives of these publications can be accessed on this website.