i want to show you something really incredible. something that is the key to understanding voter turnout in past and future elections and shows the differences in turnout between black and white men in 2012. okay? so, you see according to census data 64.1% of black men turned out to vote. that s fairly high. but, and this is the important part, when you account for the hundreds of thousands of black men who are not in prison but have been stripped of their right to vote as punishment for their crimes, the percentage of eligible black men who voted shoots up to 68%. a 6% jump. a rate that, interestingly, is much, much higher than white men. it so disproportionally affects black men. this week we have a big victory out of the state of virginia. this letter sent by governor bob mcdonnell puts in place a restoration process of voting
understanding voter turnout in past and future elections and shows the differences in turnout between black and white men in 2012. okay? so, you see according to census data 64.1% of black men turned out to vote. that s fairly high. but, and this is the important part, when you account for the hundreds of thousands of black men who are not in prison but have been stripped of their right to vote as punishment for their crimes, the percentage of eligible black men who voted shoots up to 68%. a 6% jump. a rate that, interestingly, is much, much higher than white men. it so disproportionally affects black men. this week we have a big victory out of the state of virginia. this letter sent by governor bob mcdonnell puts in place a restoration process of voting rights for many of virginia s 350,000 felons. this is in a state where one in five black men cannot vote