Black Voters in NJ Turn Out in Largest Percentage for 2012 Presidential Bid

A new report on voting in the 2012 presidential election found that blacks in New Jersey, like those across the nation, turned out in greater percentages than any other racial or ethnic group and the youngest voters, those age 18 through 24, turned out in the smallest numbers.

The report by the U.S. Census Bureau released on Wednesday said that a greater percentage of eligible blacks voted than whites for the first time since officials began publishing voting statistics in 1996. Nationally, two in three eligible blacks voted in the presidential election, which was slightly higher than the 64.1 percent of non-Hispanic whites. In New Jersey, 68.5 percent of eligible African Americans voted, compared with 63.4 percent of whites.

James Harris, president of the New Jersey State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said that is not surprising, given both the enthusiasm that many blacks had for President Obama’s candidacy and the threats in several states to make it more difficult for some to vote; for instance, by requiring voters to show photo identification before being allowed to cast ballots.

“Of course there was a great deal of excitement about President Obama,” Harris said. “Also, given the threats about taking that vote away, people wanted to go out and make their voices heard.”

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