Bob Hall of Democracy NC sent out this rather interesting release this afternoon.
To: NC Media
Re: Election factoids that may be useful
Date: November 6, 2008
From: Democracy North CarolinaMeasures of Change: Forty Year and 304,000 votes
In 1968, the first African American (Henry E. Frye) was elected to the N.C. General Assembly after the Jim Crow era. There were a total of 304,400 African Americans registered to vote in North Carolina that summer, according to the Southern Regional Council, or 55% of the voting-age black population. In November 1968, three women were elected to serve in the General Assembly. In the presidential election, George Wallace received 31% of North Carolina vote, compared to 29% for Hubert Humphrey and 40% for Richard Nixon.
In 2008, the first African American was elected president of the United States. All indications are that a slim plurality of North Carolina voters backed his election, with a large boost from new voters. There were 304,700 new registrations from African Americans between January 1 and November 1, 2008 – bringing the net total to 1,343,400 or over 85% of the voting-age black population.
Altogether, North Carolina added 967,800 new registrations in 2008. (There were 313,000 registrations removed from the rolls during these 10 months, for a net increase of 654,800.) More than 185,000 of this number registered during the Early Voting period, using North Carolina’s new Same-Day Registration law.
As of November 1, 54% of the registered voters in North Carolina are women and 22% are African Americans. This year, 29 blacks and 44 women were elected to serve in the General Assembly.
Bob Hall
Democracy North Carolina
Direct line: 919-489-1931
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