---
title: "Electoral Participation in the 2008 Presidential Election"
description: "The Census Bureau today released a report summarizing levels of voting and voter registration in the November 2008 presidential election. Based on the November 2008 Current Population Survey Voting and Registration supplement, the Census Bureau reports that over 131 million people cast a vote in 2008, up from 126 million in 2004. The 2008 electorate […]"
date: "2010-05-12"
authors:
  - name: "Mark Hugo Lopez"
    job_title: "Director, Race and Ethnicity Research"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/mark-hugo-lopez/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2010/05/12/electoral-participation-in-the-2008-presidential-election/"
categories:
  - "Election 2008"
  - "Hispanic/Latino Voters"
  - "Political & Civic Engagement"
  - "Race & Ethnicity"
  - "Voter Demographics"
  - "Voter Participation"
---

# Electoral Participation in the 2008 Presidential Election

The Census Bureau today released a report summarizing [levels of voting and voter registration](http://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/p20-562.pdf) in the November 2008 presidential election. Based on the November 2008 Current Population Survey Voting and Registration supplement, the Census Bureau reports that over 131 million people cast a vote in 2008, up from 126 million in 2004.

The 2008 electorate was the most diverse in U.S. history, according to a [Pew Hispanic Center analysis ](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/reports/108.pdf)of the same data. Nearly one-in-four voters was non-white in 2008, up from about one-in-five in 2004.