FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                     TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2000
                                
Public Information Office                                  CB00-138
301-457-3013/301-457-3670 (fax)
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e-mail: pio@census.gov

Jennifer Day
301-457-2464
                                
     Number of Asian and Pacific Islanders Casting Ballots Up
           "Significantly," Census Bureau Study Says
                                
  The number of Asians and Pacific Islanders voting in congressional
elections increased by 366,000 between 1994 and 1998 to 1.4 million
voters, according to new analysis today of a recent report by the Commerce
Department's Census Bureau.

  "While the number of voters nationwide dropped by 2.6 million, the
number of Asian and Pacific Islanders going to the polls went up
significantly between the 1994 and 1998 elections," said Jennifer Day,
co-author of Voting and Registration in the Election of November 1998, a
report released in July.

  Day noted that the number of Asian and Pacific Islander citizens of
voting age increased from 2.6 million in 1994 to 4.3 million in 1998.

  The turnout rate for Asian and Pacific Islander citizens of voting age
was 39 percent in 1994 and 32 percent in 1998. Nationally, the voter
turnout rate for all U.S. citizens of voting age fell from 48 percent in
1994 to 45 percent in 1998, which was the lowest participation rate
recorded since the Census Bureau began collecting voting and registration
data in 1964.

  Data on Asians and Pacific Islanders in this report do not include
individuals of Hispanic origin, who may be of any race. The data were
collected in the November 1998 Current Population Survey (CPS) two weeks
after the election. As in all surveys, data are subject to sampling
variability and other sources of errors. The CPS routinely overestimates
voter turnout. Possible reasons include understatement of actual votes
cast; overreporting by survey respondents who want to demonstrate their
civic responsibility; misreporting of voting because of refusals or lack
of knowledge on the part of proxy respondents; and survey undercoverage.

Table 1.  Citizen Voting-Age Population, Number Voted, and Percent Voted,
1994 and 1998 (Numbers in thousands)
  
                 Voting-Age Population|Number Voted | Percent Voted 
  
                       1994   1998      1994   1998     1994  1998 
Citizens 18 years and older
Total                177,260 183,451   85,702 83,098    48.3  45.3 
White                151,432 155,369   75,769 71,871    50.0  46.3 
Black                 20,829  22,074    8,095  9,223    38.9  41.8 
Asian and              2,684   4,422    1,057  1,431    39.4  32.4 
 Pacific Islander
Hispanic *            10,350  12,396    3,522  4,068    34.0* 32.8*
  
White non Hispanic   142,357 143,650   72,614 68,068    51.0  47.4 
Black non Hispanic    20,662  21,613    8,048  9,044    39.0  41.8 
Asian and Pacific      2,632   4,344    1,038  1,404    39.4  32.3 
 Islander non Hispanic  
  
*Percent voted in 1994 and 1998 not significantly different.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey.