U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for July 25

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Jul 25, 2014, 12:01 ET

WASHINGTON, July 25, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

OPINION RESEARCH

Profile America — Friday, July 25th. The past few decades have seen a mounting number and frequency of public opinion polls, whether from the traditional Gallup and Harris firms to those commissioned by newspapers or political campaigns. The first such poll in U.S. history appeared this month in 1824 in the Harrisburg Pennsylvanian, finding that Andrew Jackson was favored over John Quincy Adams in the four-man presidential race. Ironically, that contest drew the lowest recorded participation in our history — less than 27 percent of voters bothered to cast a ballot. Although Jackson won the most popular and electoral college votes, he had a majority in neither, and the House of Representatives then elected Adams president. In 2012, nearly 133 million voters — 62 percent of those eligible — went to the polls to cast presidential ballots. Profile America is in its17th year as a Public Service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources:
Kane's Famous First Facts 5601
Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970, p. 1071 http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/socdemo/voting/publications/p20/2012/tables.html t. 1

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button).

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SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau