FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                    TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2000 
                                
Public Information Office                                 CB00-139  
301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax)
301-457-1037 (TDD)
e-mail: pio@census.gov

Jennifer Day
301-457-2464
                                
           Number of Hispanics Who Vote Up "Sharply," 
                     Census Bureau Reports

  More than one-half million more Hispanics voted in the congressional
elections of 1998 than did in 1994, increasing this ethnic group's
presence at the polls from 3.5 million to 4.1 million, according to new
analysis today of a recent report by the Commerce Department's Census
Bureau.

  "While the overall number of voters nationwide dropped by 2.6 million,
the number of Hispanics going to the polls between 1994 and 1998 rose
sharply," said Jennifer Day, co-author of Voting and Registration in the
Election of November 1998, a report released in July.

  Day noted that the number of Hispanic citizens of voting age increased
from 10.4 million in 1994 to 12.4 million in 1998.

  The overall turnout rate for Hispanic citizens of voting age was
unchanged between 1994 and 1998 33 percent. Nationally, the turnout rate
for all U.S. citizens of voting age fell from 48 percent in 1994 to 45
percent in 1998, which was the lowest participation rate recorded since
the Census Bureau began collecting voting and registration data in 1964.

  The data in the report were collected in the November 1998 Current
Population Survey (CPS) two weeks after the election. As in all surveys,
data are subject to sampling variability and other sources of errors. The
CPS routinely overestimates voter turnout. Possible reasons include
understatement of actual votes cast; overreporting by survey respondents
who want to demonstrate their civic responsibility; misreporting of voting
because of refusals or lack of knowledge on the part of proxy respondents;
and survey undercoverage.

Table 1.  Citizen Voting-Age Population, Number Voted, and Percent Voted,
1994 and 1998 (Numbers in thousands)
  
                 Voting-Age Population|Number Voted | Percent Voted
                       1994   1998      1994   1998     1994  1998
Citizens 18 years and older
Total                177,260 183,451   85,702 83,098    48.3  45.3
White                151,432 155,369   75,769 71,871    50.0  46.3
Black                 20,829  22,074    8,095  9,223    38.9  41.8
Asian and              2,684   4,422    1,057  1,431    39.4  32.4
 Pacific Islander
Hispanic *            10,350  12,396    3,522  4,068    34.0* 32.8*

White non Hispanic   142,357 143,650   72,614 68,068    51.0  47.4
Black non Hispanic    20,662  21,613    8,048  9,044    39.0  41.8
Asian and Pacific      2,632   4,344    1,038  1,404    39.4  32.3
 Islander non Hispanic

*Percent voted in 1994 and 1998 not significantly different.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey.