Voter Turnout: We’re Number 31

Voter turnout in US presidential elections has generally hovered a little above 50 percent of eligible adults. The relatively high turnout in the 2020 presidential election was an outlier. In response to COVID, many states adopted mail-in balloting for the first time. Further, the partisan and ideological turmoil of the Trump versus Biden election along with the concerted efforts of the political parties to get out the vote meant a record high percentage of eligible adults cast their votes. In 2020, 81 million citizens voted for Biden; 74 million voted for Trump; 3 million voted for third party candidates. Yet 80 million people did not vote at all. In the 2020 presidential election, despite record numbers of voters, there was a significant racial disparity in voter turnout. The Brennan Center reported that 70.9 percent of white voters cast their ballots, while only 58.4 of non-white voters did so (62.6 percent for Black voters; 53.7 for Latino voters; and 59.7 percent for Asian voters).

In 2024, voter turnout decreased, especially for Democrats. The biggest decrease came in urban areas, with approximately 1.9 million fewer votes for Harris than voted for Biden four years earlier. By contrast, approximately 1.7 million more votes were added to Trump’s campaign than voted for him in 2020. Analysis by the New York Times noted that “the drop-off spanned demographics and economics. It was clear in counties with the highest job growth rates, counties with the most job losses and counties with the highest percentage of college-educated voters. Turnout was down, too, across groups that are traditionally strong for Democrats—including areas with large numbers of Black Christians and Jewish voters.”

During off-year elections for members of Congress, the percentage of those voting usually drops substantially. Again, the 2018 and 2022 mid-term elections were exceptions, drawing higher than usual percentage of voters. At the local level, voter turnout in the United States drops significantly, often below 20 percent of eligible voters.

In recent national elections, the United States ranked 31st in voter participation.

How Did They Do It? The Affirmative Right to Vote. Several countries, including Canada and Germany have a guaranteed affirmative right to vote or require voting.

Source: Drew DeSilver, “Turnout in US Has Soared in Recent Elections but by

Source: Some Measures Still Trails That of Many Other Countries,” Pew Research Center, November 1, 2022, https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/11/01/turnout-in-u-s-has-soared-in-recent-elections-but-by-some-measures-still-trails-that-of-many-other-countries/