[lbo-talk] FW: Help Defeat Question 3

[JW Mason]

Nathan newman wrote:

> Since Democratic primaries have more liberal people voting than the
general
> election overall, the primaries are good vehicles for progressives to win.

Right. Substitute "nonwhite" for "liberal" and the case is even clearer.

New York City 2001 Turnout Percent by Ethnic Composition of Election
District

Composition     Primary     General
Majority Latino     28.8     28.6
Plurality Latino     28.8     34.9
Majority Black     29.5     34.9
Plurality Black     28.8     35.4
Majority Asian     25.1     37.2
Plurality Asian     27.4     38.2
Majority White     33.8     49.8
Plurality White     30.7      41.4
Total                 30.8     40.7

Notice that the difference in turnout between majority black and majority
white districts is only 4 percentage points in the Democratic primary, but
15 points in the general election. Obviously the numbers vary from year to
year depending on the candidates, but the overall pattern is very
consistent. So it's a mathematical certainty that nonpartisan elections
would reduce the weight of black and Latino voters in New York elections.

Josh
(back on LBO-Talk after a long hiatus)