There had been lots of talk about this election's voter turnout potential; record voter registrations, long lines at early voting stations televised daily, huge number of requests for absentee ballots. How big was the turnout?
Politico reported today it was recordbreaking.
More than 130 million people turned out to vote Tuesday, the most ever to vote in a presidential election.
With ballots still being counted in some precincts into Wednesday morning, an estimated 64 percent of the electorate turned out, making 2008 the highest percentage turnout in generations.
In 2004, 122.3 million voted in what was then the highest recorded turnout in the contest between President Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.).
Turnout in the 2004 Bush/Kerry election was 56%. The previous turnout record was 63% in the 1960 Kennedy/Nixon race.
Before we get too busy patting ourselves on the back, some perspective may be in line. A 2001 report ranked the United States at 120th in a ranking of turnout as a percentage of registrants.
There are a number of proposals floating around to increase voter turnout. They include making registration easier, EDR (election,or same day registration), and moving election days from Tuesdays to Saturdays and Sundays.
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Comments
The AP reports that 120 million Americans voted in the presidential election, which is DOWN from 2004. I trust the AP more than Politico.
How about a national election day holiday?
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