Comments on: Iowa GOP Tries Make To Voting Harder, Again http://iowaprogress.com/2007/01/28/iowa-gop-tries-to-make-voting-harder-again/ Politics in Iowa from a progressive viewpoint. Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:08:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1 By: Rob Sand http://iowaprogress.com/2007/01/28/iowa-gop-tries-to-make-voting-harder-again/#comment-7242 Rob Sand Mon, 29 Jan 2007 04:46:58 +0000 http://iowaprogress.com/2007/01/28/iowa-gop-tries-to-make-voting-harder-again/#comment-7242 Good post about a bill that people should be concerned about... but the Johnson County office is using a very inaccurate measurement of voter turnout that should not be replicated or reproduced elsewhere. Their numbers are using the total population of each county as the denominator in determining turnout percentage, rather than using either the total voting-age population or the total number of registered voters. The latter two are the only acceptable figures for press or for academia because they are vastly more accurate. No one expects people under 18 to vote, so they shouldn't be counted when figuring turnout. The true figure for voter turnout in 2006 in Iowa is 47.4%. That figure comes from http://blog.lib.umn.edu/oster017/smartpolitics/2006/12/upper_midwest_leads_the_nation.html Good post about a bill that people should be concerned about… but the Johnson County office is using a very inaccurate measurement of voter turnout that should not be replicated or reproduced elsewhere.

Their numbers are using the total population of each county as the denominator in determining turnout percentage, rather than using either the total voting-age population or the total number of registered voters. The latter two are the only acceptable figures for press or for academia because they are vastly more accurate. No one expects people under 18 to vote, so they shouldn’t be counted when figuring turnout. The true figure for voter turnout in 2006 in Iowa is 47.4%.

That figure comes from http://blog.lib.umn.edu/oster017/smartpolitics/2006/12/upper_midwest_leads_the_nation.html

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