Virginia's Declaration of Rights, written largely by George Mason of Fairfax and adopted on June 12, 1776, set forth the rights of citizens in the newly independent commonwealth. Among these was: “That elections of members to serve as representatives of the people in assembly ought to be free and that all men having sufficient evidence of permanent common interest with and attachment to the community have the right of suffrage...” 2

The Declaration of Rights did not, of course, settle the question of who should have that right of suffrage. African Americans, Native Americans, and women were excluded, as were white men who did not own land.

Over the next two centuries, through a series of fits and starts at both the state and national level, dramatic changes in suffrage altered the nature of citizenship in the United States. Still, literacy tests and poll taxes, which were responsible for disenfranchising most African Americans and many poor Whites, remained staples of Virginia's political system well into the second half of the 20th Century. It was not until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that the federal government barred the unequal application of voter registration requirements, and it was not until the Voting Act of 1965 that the federal government barred literacy tests and empowered the Attorney General to challenge poll taxes. It was not until 1971, when a new Virginia Constitution went into effect, that institutional barriers to voting were removed for Virginians over the age of 18.

Yet, despite centuries of struggle to expand and ensure voting rights, despite our founders' insistence that governmental power is legitimate only if it is based on the consent of the governed, citizens of the United States vote at rates far below those of other democracies.

In many ways, the voting record of Virginians ( Figure 1 ) is better than that of the United States overall. As a purple state — one whose recent voting record is neither consistently Democrat nor Republican — Virginia is hotly contested by both parties. This undoubtedly has increased voter turnout. Virginia ranked 9th in the nation in voter turnout for the November 2008 presidential election with a rate of 68.7%. 3 This was 5.6 percentage points higher than the turnout in Virginia for the 2004 presidential election, and 5.1 percentage points higher than the turnout nationwide for the 2008 election. This is certainly an encouraging sign of engagement in civic life.

Virginia also was higher than average in voter registration with a rate of 74.3%. This placed the Commonwealth 17th nationwide. Of those who registered to vote, 92.5% actually did so.

Not surprisingly, given Barack Obama's status as the first African American to be nominated for president by a major party, the largest percentage increase in voting in Virginia was among African–Americans ( Figure 2) . Only 44.8% of African Americans voted in the 1980 presidential election. That percentage was significantly lower than the 60.3% of Whites who voted in 1980. In 2004, the African American figure rose to 51.6%, still significantly lower than the figure for Whites, 67.5%. In 2008, the African American percentage rose to 68.7%, nearly equal to the figure for White, 69.4%.

Women, too, turned out at a higher rate ( Figure 3) for the 2008 election — 71.2%, voted, compared with 63.9% in 2004. The increase among men was not as great, up from 62.1% in 2004 to 65.8% in 2008.

Encouraging as these trends are, they do not tell the full story — and that story includes some disturbing subplots. If we look at midterm elections ( Figure 4 ) rather than presidential elections, the turnout is consistently lower. In 1982, 47.3% of Virginians voted. The percentage has fluctuated over the years but ended up at essentially the same point in 2006: 47.5%.

More disturbing still are the percentages of young people who voted. Indeed, the behavior of young people differs so much from their elders — and matters so much to the future of any democracy — that it merits a detailed and thorough review.