1880 Voting in California and Ohio Victorian Super-Citizens?

Abstract

Analyses of 1880 Census samples of 21-plus male citizens show a turnout of 50% to 69% for California, but nearly 90% for Ohio. Registration was required in California in 1866. A sample of 690 names from the June 1880 Census was checked against the “Alameda County Great Register,” October 1880, and 51% were found to be registered. Of the 12,359 registered, 80% actually voted. Thus, the Alameda turnout of potentially eligible voters was probably below 50%. On the other hand, a 100% sample of eligible males in Clay Township, Highland County, Ohio (N = 342), June 1880, checked against the 1880 Poll Book (list of actual voters, compiled at the end of election day) showed a turnout of 87.7%. Burnham's and others' assertion of high turnouts 1876 to 1896 is supported with respect to Ohio, but unsupported with respect to California; these findings are contrary to Burnham's belief that in 1876–1896 there was “a concentration of participation in the most densely populated and socioeconomically developed parts of the country”; the effects of the first registration laws may have been greater than the 10% currently estimated, but we need to find and use individual-level data to sharpen estimates from aggregate data.