Voting and Political Participation in the 2010 Elections
SOWK 300 Computer Applications in the Social Sciences Fall 2010
Samuel R. Morris TTH-02
Introduction
In 1965, the United States Congress
passed the Voter’s Right Act that ensured
that all Americans, especially African
Americans, had the right to vote. Over 60%
of African Americans came out to vote in
2008, but not in 2010. Why is this?
Moreover, how did Tuskegee University
Students participate in the recent elections.
This project will examine how TU students
voted in the 2010 elections.
Graph 1
After reviewing the results from the
National Statistics about the recent elections, I
wanted to see exactly how Tuskegee University
Students participated in the recent elections.
Based on the data, I was surprised. 58% of the
respondents reported that they did not
participate in the elections. On the other hand,
42% reported that they participated on election
day. I was surprised about these results
because I thought that there were going to be
much different. Although there were a high
number of TU students who did not vote, there
still were a good amount of students who did
go out and exercise their constitutional right!
Graph 2
After reviewing the results from the 2010 Elections, I
became intrigue in seeing how TU students participated
two years ago in the 2008 elections. Based on the results,
82% of the respondents reported that they participated in
the 2008 elections. On the other hand, only 18% of the
respondents reported that they did not vote two years
ago. Based on these numbers, two years ago TU students
came out and participated heavily by voting; however,
that was not the case in this recent election.
Graph 1 Graph 2
Graph 3
After seeing the results from Graph 1, I was intrigued
to see how many TU students participated in the 2010
Elections by classification. 100% of the Freshmen
respondents reported that they did not vote. 67% of the
Sophomore and Junior respondents reported that they
voted compared to 33% who did not. 39% of the Senior
respondents reported that they voted compared to 61%
who did not vote. Lastly, 67% of the Graduate students
did not vote in the recent elections.
LOGO
Conclusion
I found these findings to be very interesting
because it shows how politically informed our
students are at Tuskegee University. Overall,
we did have a good amount of TU students
who took the time out on November 2nd and
voted; however, after looking at the different
classifications, the results are very shocking.
Both Sophomores and Juniors voted, but
looking at the Seniors and Graduate Students,
that was not the case. Voting is a very serious
matter. Based on my research, I am happy to
say that TU students are active U.S. citizens!
Bivariate Graph 1
References
1. Survey of Tuskegee University Students’
Voter Participation in the 2010 Elections.