Kansas has fourth worst voter representation, website ranking says

Kansas has the fourth worst voter representation in the country, according to a ranking from WalletHub, a personal finance website.

WalletHub compiled state rankings that look at how well each state’s electorate represents its actual population. According to the report, Kansas’ electorate doesn’t very well represent its citizens.

Voting demographics have historically helped predict voting behavior and election outcomes. In general, voter turnout is low among young, minority and low-income populations.

To rank each state, WalletHub averaged each state’s score of racial, age and gender representation for elections.

Among those categories, Kansas had a high representation of men versus women voters, but it had low racial and age representation, according to WalletHub.

The five states with worst voter representation – beginning with the worst – are South Dakota, Kentucky, Utah, Kansas and Idaho.

WalletHub’s list ranked Virginia, Ohio, Missouri, Wisconsin and North Carolina as having the best representation, relative to each state’s population demographics.

Nationwide, families that make $50,000 or more per year vote more frequently than families that make less than $50,000. And people with a bachelor’s degree or higher vote much more frequently than people with less educational attainment.

Unsurprisingly, government workers show up to vote at a greater share than that group’s actual representation in the workforce. Self-employed individuals also vote slightly more frequently than private industry employees, relative to each group’s share of the workforce.

Elections take place Nov. 8. Kansas voter registration and polling locations can be checked online at https://myvoteinfo.voteks.org/VoterView/Home.do.

 

Source: WalletHub

This story was originally published October 11, 2016 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Kansas has fourth worst voter representation, website ranking says."