WHO'S REGISTERED AND WHO'S NOT: TARGETING VOTER REGISTRATION IN CHICAGO

Abstract

Racial minorities, the poor, the less educated and the young are the groups least likely to be registered and most likely to be under‐represented in voting. The potential payoff from participation in local elections is great: voting is their only real avenue of influence and municipal office holders are more directly responsive to voters than are federal officials. The success enjoyed by blacks in Chicago during the 1980s demonstrates what can be accomplished with high levels of registration and turnout. Yet the barriers to a continuingly high turnout are formidable. An analysis prepared for the Chicago Urban League by social scientists specifies the areas in need of expanded registration efforts, the type of problems likely to be en‐ countered, and the mobilizing tactics most likely to be successful. The problem of turnout and the differential impact of race and class has real‐life consequences. The power of the political party to facilitate, or by not engag‐ ing in registration activities, to depress involvement is indicated in the various wards of the city where the local party has a commanding presence.