Daughter C sent me a link to an article with some photos of crappy old stuff — no, “crappy old stuff” is reserved for stuff I like. There was nothing to like about what was pictured. The article, by one Brian Galindo, begins:

Last week, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court struck down Section 4(b) of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, a key provision in the law that mandated nine states with a history of racial discrimination, mostly in the South, to get federal permission before they could change their voter laws. 

True enough. These are statements of facts, and last week’s news. Tying these statements to photographs or scans of the literacy test– which had to be completed perfectly within 10 minutes– given to Blacks in Louisiana in the early 1960s implies that… what? The Supreme Court erred because nothing has changed in the South since the 1960s and Black Americans here don’t or can’t vote? That may be true. It may be false. But you know what, Brian Galindo? There is a way to actually find out which it is!

And so, I shall.

Let us ask, “Nationally, and for each state, what percentage of Black Americans voted in the 2012 election?” Call me silly, but I think this might be a pretty good indicator of whether or not the South needs to be babysat by the Feds when it comes to “voter laws.”

Fortunately, The United States Census Bureau collects such data and makes it available on the World Wide Web for all to see. (I’m looking at you, Brian.) The data, in the form of MSExcel spreadsheets are here: Table 4b. Reported Voting and Registration by Sex, Race and Hispanic Origin, for States: November 2012

Nationally, 62.0% of Black Americans voted in the 2012 election– so that’s the average for the country. (FYI, I’m reporting data from the category “Black alone” meaning these are American who self-describe as only Black, contrasted with “Black alone or in combination” which would include mixed-race Blacks.)


Top & bottom states below the fold. 

Twenty-one states were below average, some just barely. Several states have so few Blacks that the Census Bureau didn’t calculate the % (it’s a margin of error thing). Here are the states with the lowest Black American voter turnout (# Blacks who voted / Black population of the state):

Washington state: 44.2
Arizona: 45.1
Florida: 49.2
Minnesota: 49.2
Arkansas: 49.4
Colorado: 49.6

Not exactly Jim Crow states!

Now let’s look at some representative Southern states.

Georgia: 62.3 (average within the margin of error)
Alabama: 62.8 (above average)
Virginia: 63.1
South Carolina: 68.7
Louisiana: 69.5
North Carolina: 78.7
Mississippi: 82.0

82% of the Black Mississippians turned out to vote– 20% more than the national average. 

In addition to North Carolina, there were only two other states/districts in which greater than 70% of the Black population turned out, DC (72.6) and Wisconsin (73.7).

To vote, one must be registered to vote. Let’s ask one more question, “What percentage of the Black population in the top and bottom states are registered to vote?”

[Data also from Table 4(b)]

Top
Mississippi: 90%
Wisconsin: 76
DC: 78
North Carolina: 83
Louisiana: 77

Bottom
Washington state: 63%
Arizona: 57
Florida: 56
Minnesota: 52
Arkansas: 61
Colorado: 53

So, Brian Galindo, I guess you were wrong. The fact of the matter is that Black Americans who live in the DEEP SOUTH VOTE.

Oh Lord. Why did I do this? I went back and looked at some of the comments on Brian’s little article. Good Lord. A lot focus n Voter ID. So just for good measure….

You can use your Carry Permit as ID.