Stuffing the ballot box.

• Position: Statewide

Though registered-voter turnout for the 2012 presidential election was down in North Carolina compared with four years earlier, it was still tied for the third-highest since 1976. Why such strong showings in recent elections? To quote James Carville, "It's the economy, stupid." According to a poll released by Washington, D.C.-based Pew Research Center, 87% of voters claimed the economy was very important to them in both '08 and '12. Only one issue came close to matching it: jobs. Carville came up with the slogan during the 1992 election when he was chief strategist for Bill Clinton and the U.S. unemployment rate was 7.5%--the highest it had been since 1984--to remind campaign workers to focus on the issue most important to voters.

Registered-voter turnout in North Carolina in presidential elections 1976 66 1980 67 1984 69 1988 62 1992 68 1996 59 2000 59 2004 64 2008 70 2012 68 Note: Table made from bar graph. North Carolina unemployment rate in November 1976 6.6 1980 6.6 1984 6.7 1988 3.7 1992 6 1996 4.2 2000 4.3 2004 5.3 2008 7.8 2012 9.1 Note: Table made from bar graph. Turnout 2008 2012 Change in percentage points Democrats 72.0% 69.9% (2.1) Republicans 71.5 72.8 1.3 Libertarians 84.1 62.6 (21.5) Unaffiliated 62.2 60.3 (1.9) Black 71.9 70.2 (1.7) White 69.4 68.6 (0.8) Hispanic 59.2 54.3 (4,9) Women 70.6 69.7 (0.9) Men 68.2 66.8 (1.4) Age 18-25 60.3 55.1 (5.2) Age 26-40 62.6 58.1 (4.5) Age 41-65 75.2 74.7 (0.5) Older than 65 72.4 76.6 4.2...