The Older White Vote

Anyone who expects the 2012 election to be like the 2010 election doesn't know their demographics. Take a look at the percentage of voters in each of the past two elections who were non-Hispanic whites aged 45 or older...

	2010	2008
Total voters	100%	100%
NHW 45+	54	47
Everyone else	46	53

In the 2010 election, non-Hispanic whites aged 45 or older accounted for the 54 percent majority of voters because they are much more likely than everyone else to vote in a congressional election. In the 2008 presidential election, in contrast, older whites were only 47 percent of voters. In the 2012 election, expect older whites to be an even smaller share of the vote.

Source: Census Bureau, Voting and Registration