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Black voters showed up at the polls at higher rates than whites in last year's presidential election, driving the rate of minority participation to historic levels, a new government report shows.

While voting and turnout rates from 2012 were known soon after President Obama's re-election, the survey by the U.S. Census Bureau offers new details on the social and demographic characteristics of the electorate by age, gender, race or Hispanic origin, and geography. It also offers hints about why people didn't register to vote or ultimately cast a ballot.

Here are six takeaways from the bureau's findings, which result from a survey of the civilian, voting-age population:

1. The electorate is "increasingly diverse"