States with the Highest (and Lowest) Voter Turnout

States with the Highest Turnout

10. Missouri
> 2008 voter turnout: 67.6%
> Winning candidate: McCain
> Voting-eligible population: 4,327,572 (17th highest)
> 2012 electoral votes: 10
> Median income: $44,301 (14th lowest)
> Pct. with HS diploma or higher: 87.3% (22nd lowest)

Missouri’s voter turnout jumped dramatically in the past two election cycles. The 67.6% turnout is an improvement from 65.3% in 2004, when the state ranked 15th in voter turnout, and 58.2% in 2000, where the state ranked 17th. Every one of those new voters were critical in the last presidential race. The contest was closer in Missouri than in all other states, as McCain won the state by a victory margin of just 3,632 votes out of nearly 2.9 million. Missouri also was considered a swing state in 2000. The percentage of people over 25 with at least a high-school diploma was 87.3%, the only state on this list that is in the bottom half for people with at least a high-school diploma. Until 2008, Missouri was also the unofficial bellwether state, voting for the winning candidate in 12 consecutive presidential elections.

9. Oregon
> 2008 voter turnout: 67.7%
> Winning candidate: Obama
> Voting-eligible population: 2,700,327 (24th lowest)
> 2012 electoral votes: 7
> Median income: $46,560 (22nd lowest)
> Pct. with HS diploma or higher: 88.9% (21st highest)

Oregon has consistently been a state with one of the highest voter turnout the past three presidential elections. And like many states on this list, it has been a swing state in two of the past three elections. The Beaver State has voted for the Democratic candidate in every presidential election since 1988. Prior to that, it voted for the Republican nominee in all but seven elections, four of these seven being for FDR. With one of the highest proportions of young voters in the country, Oregon is trying a new tactic at getting this normally reluctant group out to vote. In 2010, the state launched a program of sending out text messages to remind people to register to vote and to vote on election day. Oregon is one of only two states in the U.S. where residents vote in all elections by mail, the other being Washington.

Also Read: States Losing the Most Jobs to  China

8. Alaska
> 2008 voter turnout: 68.0%
> Winning candidate: McCain
> Voting-eligible population: 479,429 (2nd lowest)
> 2012 electoral votes: 3
> Median income: $64,576 (3rd highest)
> Pct. with HS diploma or higher: 91.2% (6th highest)

Unlike most states on this list, Alaska has not been a swing state recently, but that has not led to a lower voter turnout. In fact, turnout was even higher in 2004, at 69.1%, and it was 68.1% in 2000, the seventh- and second-highest turnouts for those elections, respectively. Alaska’s voting patterns bucked conventional stereotypes of age and voter preference in the most recent contest. The population aged 20 to 34 — a key age group in Obama’s success — is 22.3% of the total Alaskan population, the second-highest in the United States. Meanwhile, only 7.5% of Alaskans are 65 or older, the lowest of all 50 states. Nevertheless, McCain, along with running mate Sarah Palin, the then-governor of Alaska, won the state with almost 60% of the vote.

7. Michigan
> 2008 voter turnout: 69.2%
> Winning candidate: Obama
> Voting-eligible population: 7,229,512 (8th highest)
> 2012 Electoral votes: 16
> Median income: $45,413 (18th lowest)
> Pct. with HS diploma or higher: 89.0% (20th highest)

The Great Lakes State is the most populous state on this list. Its voting-eligible population is almost 3 million more than the next most populous state on the list, Missouri. Though the incumbent governor is Republican, Michigan has voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1992. Beset by economic problems since the 1970s, Michigan has had a declining population and hence a decline in the electoral vote from a high of 21 in the 1970s to the current 16 votes beginning with this election. Michigan was a swing state in the 2004 election between John Kerry and George W. Bush.

6. Iowa
> 2008 voter turnout: 69.4%
> Winning candidate: Obama
> Voting-eligible population: 2,216,094 (21st lowest)
> 2012 electoral votes: 6
> Median income: $47,961 (24th lowest)
> Pct. with HS diploma or higher: 90.9% (8th highest)

The Hawkeye State is home to the first-in-the-nation presidential primary vote every four years, hosting the Iowa caucus the January before the general election. But political participation does not stop with Iowans following the caucuses. Iowa has been in the top 10 states for voter turnout in each of the three most recent presidential elections. It helps that Iowa isn’t heavily favored toward one political party. Iowa was considered a swing state in both 2000 — when the state went for then Vice President Al Gore — and 2004, when then-president Bush won the state’s electoral votes. Although Obama won by a more comfortable margin the last-go around, Iowa is one of the states that is considered a toss-up by The Cook Political Report. Iowa is one of eight states to allow for election day registration at the polls.