Are neighborhoods and media usage polarized?

Possibly not. A political scientist challenges the idea - that I'm guilty of spreading - that people are sorting themselves into politically polarized neighborhoods, and limit themselves to ideologically narrow media sources.

Most precincts are composed of diverse groups:




And self described partisans actually frequent news sources that are not ideologically polarized:

Low voter turnout among Latino voters

The trend continues. The Dallas Morning News points out that only 83 people voted in a precinct where 6,910 people live. 6,400 of the residents are Latino.

Those who track voting patterns on the national level are especially alarmed because 2012 has produced a decline in the number of registered Hispanic voters, despite population gains that guarantee the addition of thousands of potential voters every month.

There are several reasons offered for why so many eligible Latino voters are not taking part in elections, including a prolonged recession and the collapse of the housing market, both of which can displace people and interrupt their voting habits.

In our area, an important factor also appears to be a lack of tradition in voting. Unlike in San Antonio or El Paso, where Latinos have been enfranchised for generations, too many eligible Hispanic voters in North Texas are simply not in the habit of voting. How else do you end up with a turnout of 3 percent among registered voters in a heavily Hispanic district, which is what happened in Arlington on primary day?

This is not a partisan issue, contrary to perception. Republicans and Democrats, at the party level, need to invest significant resources to mobilize this electorate. In Texas alone, there are about 2.1 million eligible Latino voters who are not registered. Some of them, no doubt, live in voting precinct No. 4085. Getting them on the rolls and then to the polls should be a priority.

Harris County Precint Level Analysis

Some interesting work by Charles Kuffner.

Precinct 666

So I'm in the process of inputting census data in a spreadsheet for each of the 930 precincts in Harris County and I was reviewing work so far and happened to notice that no one lives in precinct 666!!

Is this deliberate or could it be that ...