Purpose of study To determine what percent and what type of registered voters vote after not having voted in a number of intermediary elections. Design of study Registered voters who were registered at the 29-day close for the 1988 General election in Los Angeles County were compared with those who were registered at the 29-day close for the 1992 General election in Los Angeles County. Those who remained registered with no change in their registration status were matched with the voting histories from the 1988 General, 1990 General, and 1992 General election. The number of these voters who did not vote in the 1988 or 1990 General election but did vote in the 1992 General election were collected and compared on such things as partisan identification, sex, age and registration date. Results of study 3,765,388 Number of registered voters in 1988 General 3,743,468 Number of registered voters in 1992 General 2,727,640 Number of actual voters in 1988 General 2,871,563 Number of actual voters in 1992 General 2,080,982 Number whose registration status stayed the same between 1988 General and 1992 General 92,577 Number whose registration status stayed the same who did not vote in the 1988 or 1990 General election but who did vote in the 1992 General (4.49% of the number whose registration status stayed the same, 3.22% of the 1992 General vote) Same Registration Entire 1988 G Status, no 88G electorate or 90G vote, but 92G vote Sex Frequency Percent Frequency Percent Not Given 16,494 17.8 507,261 13.5 Female 41,646 45.0 1,750,351 46.5 Male 34,437 37.2 1,507,821 40.0 ------- ------- -------- ------- Total 92,577 100.0 3,765,388 100.0 Party Frequency Percent Frequency Percent Democrat 54,783 59.2 2,089,641 55.5 Republican 25,728 27.8 1,313,889 34.9 AIP 1,291 1.4 36,454 1.0 PAF 540 .6 15,145 .4 Libertarian 440 .5 13,038 .3 DCL 9,532 10.3 290,135 7.7 Miscellaneous 263 .3 7,086 .2 ------- ------- ------- ------- Total 92,577 100.0 3,765,388 100.0 Birthyear Frequency Percent Frequency Percent Before 1940 or missing 28,202 30.5 1,575,533 41.8 1940 1,032 1.1 40,098 1.1 1941 1,237 1.3 41,937 1.1 1942 1,339 1.4 48,618 1.3 1943 1,333 1.4 51,264 1.4 1944 1,312 1.4 51,357 1.4 1945 1,420 1.5 52,651 1.4 1946 1,659 1.8 62,279 1.7 1947 1,818 2.0 69,835 1.9 1948 1,798 1.9 68,982 1.8 1949 1,822 2.0 69,735 1.9 1950 1,903 2.1 71,283 1.9 1951 1,956 2.1 74,064 2.0 1952 1,986 2.1 77,301 2.1 1953 1,966 2.1 78,864 2.1 1954 2,045 2.2 81,762 2.2 1955 2,176 2.4 82,397 2.2 1956 2,228 2.4 85,787 2.3 1957 2,414 2.6 90,296 2.4 1958 2,516 2.7 92,489 2.5 1959 2,504 2.7 92,282 2.5 1960 2,606 2.8 93,724 2.5 1961 2,589 2.8 92,454 2.5 1962 2,662 2.9 90,693 2.4 1963 2,606 2.8 87,182 2.3 1964 2,841 3.1 82,901 2.2 1965 2,712 2.9 75,045 2.0 1966 2,607 2.8 67,828 1.8 1967 2,293 2.5 58,669 1.6 1968 2,460 2.7 57,092 1.5 1969 2,468 2.7 54,853 1.5 1970 2,067 2.2 46,133 1.2 ------- ------- ------- ------- Total 92,577 100.0 3,765,388 100.0 Average Age 36.7 39.8 Registration Year Frequency Percent Frequency Percent Before 1960 or missing 1,437 1.6 158,335 4.2 1960 489 .5 43,102 1.1 1961 37 .0 4,703 .1 1962 294 .3 33,127 .9 1963 121 .1 11,234 .3 1964 772 .8 60,274 1.6 1965 77 .1 8,183 .2 1966 598 .6 51,080 1.4 1967 171 .2 12,667 .3 1968 1,142 1.2 78,768 2.1 1969 170 .2 12,471 .3 1970 723 .8 43,575 1.2 1971 650 .7 32,349 .9 1972 2,277 2.5 98,012 2.6 1973 347 .4 20,812 .6 1974 1,394 1.5 75,715 2.0 1975 1,182 1.3 47,544 1.3 1976 6,175 6.7 203,235 5.4 1977 706 .8 32,023 .9 1978 4,390 4.7 151,972 4.0 1979 1,546 1.7 51,997 1.4 1980 6,899 7.5 213,286 5.7 1981 1,288 1.4 42,496 1.1 1982 6,535 7.1 197,059 5.2 1983 2,270 2.5 73,472 2.0 1984 16,015 17.3 474,141 12.6 1985 2,351 2.5 85,955 2.3 1986 8,409 9.1 333,055 8.8 1987 4,058 4.4 189,000 5.0 1988 20,054 21.7 925,746 24.6 ------- ------- ------- ------- Total 92,577 100.0 3,765,388 100.0 Average length of Registration 6.28 years 7.63 years Conclusion The "infrequent" voters (those who were registered for the 1988 General Election, did not vote in that election nor the 1990 General, but did vote in the 1992 General) are somewhat more Democratic, younger, and have been registered for a less period of time than the general pool of 1988 General registered voters from which they came, but the differences are not great and would probably not effect the results of any elections. Still, these voters form 3.2 percent of the 1992 General vote, and thus a disenfranchisement of these voters would be something that would need to be considered carefully, particularly in these times of low voter turnout.