States with the Highest (and Lowest) Voter Turnout

5. Maine
> 2008 voter turnout: 70.6%
> Winning candidate: Obama
> Voting-eligible population: 1,036,242 (12th lowest)
> 2012 electoral votes: 4
> Median income: $45,815 (19th lowest)
> Pct. with HS diploma or higher: 90.5% (tied for 11th highest)

Older Americans vote in higher percentages compared to younger Americans, and Maine serves as exhibit A of that trend. Only 17% of the population is between the ages of 20 and 34 — the lowest rate in the country. Meanwhile, 43.7% of the state’s population is between 35 and 64, the second highest rate in the U.S., while 15.9% of people are 65 and older, the third highest in the country. But while research shows that older voters tend to be more conservative, Maine has voted for the Democratic nominee for president by sizable margins in the three most recent elections. The state’s voting-eligible population is boosted since it is only one of two states to allow felons to vote and only 1.3% of the state’s residents were noncitizens as of 2008, the fourth-lowest percentage in the country. Maine was also the first state to allow election day registration.

4. Colorado
> 2008 voter turnout: 71%
> Winning candidate: Obama
> Voting-eligible population: 3,382,959 (23rd highest)
> 2012 electoral votes: 9
> Median income: $54,046 (15th highest)
> Pct. with HS diploma or higher: 90.1% (tied for 13th highest)

In the 2000 presidential election, Colorado had the 19th-highest voter turnout rate at 57.5% of the voting-eligible population. But in 2008, the Rocky Mountain State had the fourth-highest voter turnout in the United States, an increase of 13.5 percentage points. The proportion of Colorado’s population 25 and over with a bachelor’s degree or higher was 36.9%, the second highest in the nation. In 2004, it was one of 11 states that was considered a swing state, when it ended up voting Republican. Then, in 2008, Denver hosted the Democratic National Convention.

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3. New Hampshire
> 2008 voter turnout: 71.7%
> Winning candidate: Obama
> Voting-eligible population: 992,226 (10th lowest)
> 2012 electoral votes: 4
> Median income: $61,042 (7th highest)
> Pct. with HS diploma or higher: 91.7% (4th highest)

New Hampshire is the only one of the 13 original colonies represented among the states with the highest voter turnout in the 2008 presidential election. It is also one of just two states on the list to be on the eastern seaboard. New Hampshire has consistently been among the states with the highest voter turnout and has often been a swing state. The Granite State has maintained four electoral votes since 1884. Like half of the states with the highest voter turnout, New Hampshire allows for election day registration.

2. Wisconsin
> 2008 voter turnout: 72.4%
> Winning candidate: Obama
> Voting-eligible population: 4,120,694 (18th highest)
> 2012 electoral votes: 10
> Median income: $49,001 (22nd highest)
> Pct. with HS diploma or higher: 90.5% (tied for 11th highest)

America’s Dairyland had the second-highest voter turnout in the past two elections, and the third-highest turnout in 2000. Wisconsin lost an electoral vote after the 2000 census, but maintained all 10 electoral votes after the 2010 census. Back in 1928, the state had 13 electoral votes. This year, the Republican vice presidential candidate is a representative from Wisconsin. Though the state has voted for the Democratic candidate since 1988, it has twice been considered a swing state in the past three elections and it has a Republican incumbent governor. Wisconsin was one of the first three states to adopt election day registration in the 1970s.

1. Minnesota
> 2008 voter turnout: 77.8%
> Winning candidate: Obama
> Voting-eligible population: 3,740,142 (21st highest)
> 2012 electoral votes: 10
> Median income: $55,459 (12th highest)
> Pct. with HS diploma or higher: 92.1% (2nd highest)

Minnesota has had the highest voter turnout in the country in the past three presidential elections. In the most recent presidential election, Minnesota’s turnout was more than five percentage points higher than Wisconsin’s, and it was over 16 percentage points above the national average turnout of 61.6%. The Land of 10,000 Lakes has voted mostly Democratic since 1932 and entirely Republican before then. In 2008, Obama won Minnesota by over 10 percentage points, despite the fact that the state hosted the Republican National Convention in Saint Paul for that election cycle. Like most states with the highest voter turnout, Minnesota had a high percentage of residents with at least a high school diploma. The state was also one of the first three states to adopt election day registration in the 1970s.

Also Read: States with the Lowest Voter Turnout