Dan Walters writes at The Sacramento Bee:
There is an additional explanation for the low registration rate in California. The following are registration percentages for citizens only.California has the nation's second-lowest rate of voter registration and one of its lowest voter turnout rates, according to a new Census Bureau report on the 2010 elections.
Just 50.1 percent of California's 27.4 million voting-age residents were registered to vote for last year's election, higher only than Hawaii's 48.3 percent, the state-by-state breakdown of political participation found. The national rate was 59.8 percent.
The state's voter turnout, 39.2 percent of voting-age residents, was one of the lower rates, but not the lowest. Ten other states had lower voting levels with Texas, at 31.4 percent, the lowest; the national rate was 45.5 percent.
California's low participation is explained, in part, by the fact that many of its residents (17 percent, twice the national percentage) are non-citizens -- a factor that shows up in the racial and ethnic breakdown as well. Just 64.5 percent of voting-age Latinos are citizens, for example, which explains why just 33.6 percent of voting-age Latinos are registered to vote, while 52.9 percent of white voting-age Californians are registered.
________________________USA___California
| Total | 65.1 | 60.9 |
| Male | 63.5 | 60.3 |
| Female | 66.6 | 61.4 |
| White alone | 66.4 | 63.6 |
| White non-Hispanic alone | 68.2 | 68.4 |
| Black alone | 62.8 | 56.1 |
| Asian alone | 49.3 | 50.1 |
| Hispanic (of any race) | 51.6 | 52.0 |
| White alone or in combination | 66.3 | 63.6 |
| Black alone or in combination | 62.7 | 56.5 |
| Asian alone or in combination | 50.2 | 51.5 |
The overall difference between California and the entire country is much smaller than if one includes noncitizens. But the topline percentage for California is still lower. Why? Note that registration among non-Hispanic whites is slightly higher in California than in the country as a whole. But both statewide and nationwide, Hispanic citizens have a relatively low registration rate. And because California has proportionately more Hispanic citizens, a lower registration rate among this group has a big effect on the overall registration figure in the state.
