Voter Turnout

ResizedImage230230-Voter-voting.jpgRobust voter turnout is fundamental to a healthy democracy. As low turnout is usually attributed to political disengagement and the belief that voting for one candidate/party or another will do little to alter public policy, "established" democracies tend have higher turnout than other counties. However, voter turnout in the U.S. is much lower than most established democracies. In this section we present research on voter turnout in the United States and the steps we might take to increase voter turnout. 

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Voter turnout also varies considerably from state to state. In 2014, smaller, less urbanized states in the northern part of the country tended to have higher voter turnout than other states. The same pattern presented in the 2014 presidential election, with small states like Minnesota, Wisconsin and New Hampshire having the highest voter turnout. 

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Turnout also varies much within states. For example, in California in 2014, voter turnout ranged from 22.6% in Imperial County in Southern California to 65.0% in Sierra County up in northern California. 

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By international standards, voter turnout is a little low. In countries with compulsory voting, like Australia, Belgium, and Chile, voter turnout hovered near 90% in the 2000s. Other countries, like Austria, Sweden, and Italy, experienced turnout rates near 80%. Overall, OECD countries experience turnout rates of about 70%. 

Measuring Voter Turnout

Voter turnout can be measured in different ways, with different denominators. It can be expressed as a percentage of the number of eligible voters (“voting eligible population turnout”),  registered voters (“registered voter turnout”) or the population that is old enough to vote ("Voting age population turnout"). 

It is quite easy to confuse these different measures of voter participation and make misleading inferences about the relative health of our democracy. This is especially true when comparing turnout in the United States (which is often measured in terms of the voting eligible population or the voting age population) to other countries (which tend to measure voter turnout in terms of registered voters). 

For a full discussion of these issues, read Haley Smith's blog, "Voter Turnout: Behind the Numbers." 


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What Affects Voter Turnout Rates?

Turnout varies greatly by state. In the 2012 Presidential Election, 76% of eligible Minnesotans cast ballots, whereas only 45% of eligible Hawaiians did. Many different factors influence voter turnout levels. 

Electoral Competitiveness: One of the most important factors is the competitiveness of the presidential election in each state. Overall, 66% of eligible voters turned out to the polls in the nation's 12 most competitive states in 2012, but only 57% did in the nation's 39 other states (including the District of Columbia). 



Voting Laws: Voter registration laws, voter identification laws, early voting, and polling place accessibility can also affect voter turnout, though not always in the ways that we might expect. For example, the introduction of early voting, which was intended to make voting easier and increase turnout, appears to have actually decreased turnout. 

Demographics: In the aggregate, voters tend to be older, wealthier, more educated and whiter than non-voters. 





How Can We Increase Voter Turnout?

FairVote advocates a number of systemic electoral reforms that reverse the contextual reasons for low turnout. 





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