- MIT Election Lab.
Voter turnout is a measure of civic participation that many people believe best gauges the health of the electoral process. However, measuring turnout can be more difficult than it first appears, which means that understanding how and why it fluctuates can also be difficult.
Important legislation in the twentieth century, most notably the Voting Rights Act of 1965, has led to a long-term increase in the ability of Americans to participate in elections. The effects of other legislation intended to increase turnout, such as the National Voter Registration Act, have been more limited to specific administrative practices across states.
- Wikipedia:
In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This is typically either the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford University political scientists Adam Bonica and Michael McFaul, there is a consensus among political scientists that "democracies perform better when more people vote."
Institutional factors drive the vast majority of differences in turnout rates. For example, simpler parliamentary democracies where voters get shorter ballots, fewer elections, and a multi-party system that makes accountability easier see much higher turnout than the systems of the United States, Japan, and Switzerland.
United States Elections Project:
- National Turnout Rates Graph.
- Turnout Demographics.
Fairvote:
- Voter Turnout by State.
Texas Secretary of State:
- Turnout and Voter Registration Figures (1970-current).
Texas Almanac:
- Voter Participation in Texas.
