2022 Black Well-being Final w links for Web 11.29.22 - Flipbook - Page 19
BLACK WELL-BEING REPORT 2022
Whose voices are heard
From 2015 to 2020, the percentage of Black Washingtonians who
were registered to vote decreased by 3%. Still, Black people were the
highest percentage of registered voters among other people of color
at 65%.30 Of that number, 61% voted in the 2020 elections.31 And in
2021, the Voting Rights Restoration bill (HB 1078) passed, restoring
voting rights to people convicted of a felony who are not serving a
sentence in total confinement,32 increasing the number of
Black voters.33
A 2022 audit by the Office of the State Auditor “discovered that the
votes of Black residents were rejected four times more often than
white voters. The main reason was problematic signatures, which
disqualified one out of every 40 mail-in votes from Black residents.
Overall, 29,000 ballots were rejected for signature problems.”34
Despite the perception that young people don’t vote, young people
stepped up to vote in recent federal election years. In King County
alone, voter turnout for 18- to 24-year-olds was 65.5% in 2016 and
grew to 77.4% in 2020.35
Percentages of Black Voting Age Population (2020)
70%
65%
60%
55%
50%
Percent of Voter Population
Registered to Vote
Percent of Voter Population
that Voted
Source: www.kff.org/state-indicator/voting-and-voter-registration-as-a-share-of-the-voter-population-by
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