Nonprofit VOTE and the U.S. Elections Project are excited to release America Goes to the Polls 2016, a report that ranks all 50 states in voter turnout for the 2016 election and identifies policies that help contribute to higher turnout.
Massachusetts did fairly well with a 7th place turnout of 68.3 % – right behind 6 states with same-day voter registration.
We are guessing that the Early Voting offered in MA this year contributed to our relatively high turnout. We also would like to see statistics on participation by people with disabilities. Regardless, this is an interesting report!
Here are just a few highlights from the report:
- National turnout of eligible voters was 60.2% – 1.6 percentage points above the 58.6% turnout in 2012, though slightly lower than 2008. Four in 10 eligible voters did not vote.
- The highest turnout states were Minnesota (74.8%), Maine (72.8%), New Hampshire (72.5%), Colorado (72.1%), Wisconsin (70.5%), and Iowa (69.0%). All six offered same day voter registration, enabling voters to register or update their registration when they vote. Five were battleground states targeted by the campaigns.
- The lowest turnout states were Hawaii (43%), West Virginia (50.8%), Texas (51.6%), Tennessee (52.0%) and Arkansas (53.1%). These five states were at the bottom for the third consecutive presidential election. None were battleground states. All five cut off the ability to register or update a registration three to four weeks before Election Day.