Election Results 2012; Voter Turnout Less Than Previous Elections
With the results from Election Day 2012 finalized, analysts are able to see details on voter turnout which turned out to be less than previous years.
The report released Thursday from the Center for the Study of the American Electorate estimated 126 million people turned out to vote with a rate of 57.5% of all eligible voters, compared to 62.3% who voted in 2008 and 60.4% who voted in 2004. Voter turnout was higher this year than in 2000 when it was just 54.2%.
The highest turnout rate in the nation was Minnesota at 74.6% and the lowest was Hawaii with only 43.6% of voters who cast their ballots.
This year's election was a tight race between President Obama and Mitt Romney, but some pre-election analysis on who would show up to support their candidate turned out to be correct.
On Oct. 30, Gallup released results from a poll conducted before tracking was suspended due to Sandy that suggested the voter turnout for the upcoming election would be less than the 2004 and 2008 elections.
The indicators that Gallup suggested were based on the percentage of registered voters who reported they were giving "quite a lot of" or "some" thought to the election. This was compared to voters' reported likelihood of casting their ballot when Election Day came.
According to Federal Election Commission data, the turnout for the 2004 election was 57 percent while the 2008 election turnout was 58 percent.
The lowest recorded turnout within the past 20 years was 49 percent in 1996 between Bill Clinton and Bob Dole.
ABC reported that many political analysts did not think Sandy would have had a major impact on voters.
"I don't think Sandy changes things that much, although it has kept the candidates off the road in the battleground states," said Curtis Gans, director of the Center for the Study of the American Electorate. He added his opinion saying, "Turnout this time will not be as high as 2008 or even 2004."
Turns out he was right.
