Voters in 2006 at a glance

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - About 48 percent of voting age citizens voted in the 2006 congressional elections, the highest percentage in a non-presidential year since 1994, according to a report released Tuesday by the Census Bureau.

Among the findings:

_About 5.6 million Hispanics voted in 2006, an increase of 18 percent over 2002, the previous year for a federal election without a presidential contest on the ballot.

_The number of white voters increased by 7 percent and the number of black voters went up by 5 percent.

_White voters had the highest voter turnout in 2006, with 52 percent of white adult citizens voting.

_About a third of Hispanic citizens voted, the same rate as for Asians. About 41 percent of black citizens voted.

_Among 18 to 24 year olds, 22 percent voted in 2006.

_Among those 55 and older, 63 percent voted in 2006.

_The most often cited reason for not voting was people were too busy or had a conflicting schedule, at 27 percent.

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Source: Census Bureau

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080701/ap_on_el_pr/voters_glance [link]