New Hampshire???s Voting Demographics Similar to Iowa, Only Smaller (ContributorNetwork)

As GOP candidates for president get ready for the New Hampshire presidential primary on Tuesday, they will face a similar demographic only on a smaller scale. Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul will try to convince Republican voters one of them is the right choice to become the nominee against President Barack Obama in November.

Here's a comparison of New Hampshire and the primary election versus the Iowa caucus.

* Iowa has a population of just more than 3 million people. New Hampshire has just 1.3 million people, about 43 percent of Iowa's population. Iowa is also much bigger. There are 99 counties that hold elections in the Midwestern state vs. just 10 in New Hampshire.

* Despite the larger population, residents of New Hampshire may be more politically active. In the 2012 Iowa caucus, the Des Moines Register reported the top five candidates received 115,000 votes. In the 2008 New Hampshire primary, the New York Times reported top five GOP candidates got over 229,000 votes. Perhaps the difference is in the process of choosing candidates. The Iowa caucus lasts for just a few hours in the evening. The New Hampshire primary is an election that goes all day long.

* New Hampshire and Iowa are both similar in the racial makeup of the states. Most of the populations are Caucasian and between the ages of 21 and 49. In 2007, there was a 30 percent growth in minority populations from 2000 to 2006.

* In the 2008 election, new voters accounted for 321,000 people in New Hampshire. There were an estimated 991,000 voters in New Hampshire during the state's last presidential election cycle.

* In the 2008 general election, over 700,000 people voted in an extraordinary voter turnout. Obama won with 384,826 voters over Sen. John McCain with 316,534.

* New Hampshire's polling places are open at various hours throughout the day. It depends upon the city or town in which voters live as to when polls open and close.

* The Granite State is mandated by state law to be the first presidential primary election in the United States. The first primary was held in 1916. A law was passed in 1999 that mandates New Hampshire's primary election must be held at least a week before the next primary election in the United States. Because Iowa is a state that holds caucuses throughout the state, Iowa's caucus date doesn't count.

William Browning is a research librarian specializing in U.S. politics. Born in St. Louis, Browning is active in local politics and served as a campaign volunteer for President Barack Obama and Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120108/pl_ac/10806303_new_hampshires_voting_demographics_similar_to_iowa_only_smaller

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