{"id":9098,"date":"2021-01-28T15:59:08","date_gmt":"2021-01-28T20:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/turnout-soared-in-2020-as-nearly-two-thirds-of-eligible-u-s-voters-cast-ballots-for-president\/"},"modified":"2024-04-13T23:43:40","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T04:43:40","slug":"turnout-soared-in-2020-as-nearly-two-thirds-of-eligible-u-s-voters-cast-ballots-for-president","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2021\/01\/28\/turnout-soared-in-2020-as-nearly-two-thirds-of-eligible-u-s-voters-cast-ballots-for-president\/","title":{"rendered":"Turnout soared in 2020 as nearly two-thirds of eligible U.S. voters cast ballots for president"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Voters
Voters cast their ballots at Metropolitan Library in Atlanta on Nov. 3, 2020. (Megan Varner\/Getty Images)\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Americans voted in record numbers in last year\u2019s presidential election, casting nearly 158.4 million ballots. That works out to more than six-in-ten people of voting age and nearly two-thirds of estimated eligible voters, according to a preliminary Pew Research Center analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"However<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Nationwide, presidential election turnout was about 7 percentage points higher than in 2016, regardless of which of three different turnout metrics we looked at: the estimated voting-age population as of July 1, that estimate adjusted to Nov. 1, and the estimated voting-eligible population, which subtracts noncitizens and ineligible felons and adds overseas eligible citizens. Based on these measures, turnout was the highest since at least 1980, the earliest year in our analysis, and possibly much longer<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rise in turnout was fueled in part by the bitter fight between incumbent President Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden: A preelection survey<\/a> found a record share of registered voters (83%) saying it \u201creally matter[ed]\u201d who won. But another big factor was the dramatic steps many states took to expand mail balloting<\/a> and early voting because of the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turnout rates increased in every state compared with 2016, but of the 10 states where it rose the most, seven conducted November\u2019s vote entirely or mostly by mail, our analysis shows. Six of those states had recently adopted all-mail voting, either permanently (Utah and Hawaii) or for the 2020 elections only (California, New Jersey, Vermont and most of Montana).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

How we did this<\/div>