The Nation : Elderly Take Voting Lead

America’s oldest voters outnumber the youngest age group, and the number of people eligible to vote this fall has climbed to a record 178 million, new Census Bureau figures show. The new estimates show that people age 65 and over now slightly outnumber those age 18 to 24, although each group makes up just over 16% of all potential voters. Until now, those 18 to 24 years old have outnumbered the elderly in every election year since being given the right to vote in the 1972 elections. But the actual turnout of younger voters has been less than that of the older age groups. The nation’s overall growth in voters has occurred with the aging of the post-World War II baby boom generation.