Voting Behavior in US Presidential Elections A Graphical Story Sören Holmberg Department of Political Science University of Gothenburg December 2008

US Presidential Election 2008 Preliminary Outcome Source: Wikipedia Barack Obama (Democrat)52,8% John McCain (Republican)45,8% Ralph Nader (Independent)0,5% Bob Barr (Libertarian)0,4% Others0,5% 100% Estimated Turn-Out: 130 million voters; eligible voters 213 million; turn-out per cent 61.0%

Turn-Out in US Presidential Elections Source: Stanley and Niemi: Vital Statistics in American Politics. The turn-out figures represent the percentage of the eligible electorate that cast votes in presidential elections. The preliminary result for 2008 is based on a estimate of 130 million casted votes among 213 million eligible voters. %

Regional Voting per cent Democrats North East South Difference North-South Source: VNS Exit Polls; NEP 2004; Edison 2008 %

Gender per cent Democrats Women Men Difference Women-Men ± Source: VNS Exit Polls; NEP 2004; Edison 2008 %

Age per cent Democrats Under Difference Young-Old Source: VNS Exit Polls; NEP 2004; Edison 2008 % Under

Ethnic Group per cent Democrats Blacks Hispanic Difference Black-White Source: VNS Exit Polls; NEP 2004; Edison 2008 % White Jews Asians

Religion per cent Democrats Catholics Protestants Jews Weekly Church Goers Source: VNS Exit Polls; NEP 2004; Edison 2008 % White Protestants White Born Again Christians

Marital Status per cent Democrats Unmarried Married Difference Unmarried-Married Source: VNS Exit Polls; NEP 2004; Edison 2008 %

Gays/Lesbians per cent Democrats Source: VNS Exit Polls; NEP 2004; Edison 2008 %

Income per cent Democrats Under $ Difference Low-High Income Source: VNS Exit Polls; NEP 2004; Edison 2008 % $ and over $ $29 000

Education per cent Democrats Post Graduate High School Source: VNS Exit Polls; NEP 2004; Edison 2008 % Some College

US Party Identification Democrat Republican Independent Source: ANES; % NEP 2004 Dem 37 Rep 37 Ind 26 Edison 2008 Dem 39 Rep 32 Ind 29

US Ideological Self-Identification Liberal Conservative Moderate Moderate Source: DKs 1 – 6%; General Social Survey, NORC; % NEP 2004 Cons 34 Mod 45 Lib 21 Edison 2008 Cons 34 Mod 44 Lib 22 Liberal Conservative

US: Independents Democratic Leaners Republican Leaners Independents plus Leaners Source: ANES % Pure Independents plus Leaners

Ideology per cent Democrats Liberals Conservatives Source: VNS Exit Polls; NEP 2004; Edison 2008 % Moderates Difference Lib – Cons

Party Preference per cent Democrats Democrat Republican Source: VNS Exit Polls; NEP 2004; Edison 2008 % Independent Difference Dem – Rep