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Voting rate weighted

Wed., July 6, 2011

In the redistricting article in the June 26 paper, the percent of voters is shown as low compared to the other districts, calculated by total population.

Since children under 18 aren’t allowed to vote, the district with the largest number of kids will have the lowest voting rate.

A much better measure is number of voters compared to the population age 18 and older, which is also provided in the census data.

I don’t have a GIS system and the census data handy to compare the 18 and older populations, but it is a simple recalculation.

Eric C. Johnson

Spokane

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