Voter Turnout
By 
Judging from election statistics in 1986, 1990, and 1994, the Bay State is only fair-to-middling in getting voters to the polls in non-presidential years. The true paragons of civic virtue are Minnesota and South Dakota, which along with Montana, Oregon, Alaska, Maine, and Vermont, rank ahead of Massachusetts in all three tables below. (Yet to be determined: Does cold weather cause higher voter turnout?) Voting experts say it is not meaningful to compare states by the percent of registered voters who turn out, due to widespread discrepancies in the way states maintain their registration lists. The preferred comparison looks at how much of the voting-age population turns out. Of course, each state has races of varying levels of excitement from year to year, which affects turnout. In the 1986 Massachusetts governor’s race, there was little drama in the contest between Michael Dukakis and George Kariotis (almost 1.7 million people voted). The 1990 face-off between William Weld and John Silber brought more voters out (2.3 million). Interest waned slightly (2.2 million voters) as Weld faced Mark Roosevelt in 1994.
| 1986 | |||
| Rank | State | Voting-age population | Registered voters |
| 1. | N. Dakota | 63.6% | N/A |
| 2. | S. Dakota | 59.4% | 69.2% |
| 3. | Idaho | 55.8% | 70.4% |
| 4. | Montana | 55.5% | 73.4% |
| 5. | Oregon | 54.7% | 72.4% |
| 6. | Vermont | 50.6% | 60.7% |
| 7. | Alaska | 48.5% | 62.7% |
| 8. | Nebraska | 48.3% | 66.4% |
| 9. | Maine | 47.8% | 54.1% |
| 10. | Wyoming | 47.0% | 70.2% |
| 11. | Minnesota | 46.1% | 55.7% |
| 12. | Kansas | 46.0% | 71.7% |
| 13. | Louisiana | 44.5% | 62.9% |
| 14. | Iowa | 44.1% | 56.6% |
| 15. | Hawaii | 43.9% | 81.9% |
| 16. | California | 43.4% | 59.4% |
| 17. | Wisconsin | 43.4% | N/A |
| 18. | Colorado | 42.6% | 58.2% |
| 19. | Utah | 42.3% | 58.3% |
| 20. | Rhode Island | 42.3% | 61.5% |
| 21. | Alabama | 41.1% | 52.3% |
| 22. | Washington | 41.1% | 60.9% |
| 23. | Connecticut | 40.7% | 59.5% |
| 24. | Arizona | 39.7% | 52.4% |
| 25. | Arkansas | 39.5% | 58.5% |
| 26. | Ohio | 39.2% | 52.1% |
| 27. | Illinois | 38.9% | 55.3% |
| 28. | Missouri | 38.7% | 53.3% |
| 29. | Indiana | 38.6% | 54.1% |
| 30. | Oklahoma | 37.9% | 45.1% |
| 31. | Pennsylvania | 37.4% | 57.9% |
| 32. | Michigan | 37.2% | 42.6% |
| 33. | Massachusetts | 37.1% | 56.0% |
| 34. | New Mexico | 35.9% | 62.4% |
| 35. | Florida | 35.7% | 60.9% |
| 36. | Tennessee | 34.4% | 49.5% |
| 37. | Nevada | 33.6% | 71.2% |
| 38. | Delaware | 32.9% | 54.4% |
| 39. | N. Carolina | 32.4% | 51.6% |
| 40. | Georgia | 32.1% | 47.6% |
| 41. | Maryland | 31.9% | 52.0% |
| 42. | New York | 31.9% | 53.2% |
| 43. | S. Carolina | 31.2% | 59.1% |
| 44. | New Hampshire | 30.5% | 45.6% |
| 45. | Kentucky | 29.1% | 39.2% |
| 46. | Mississippi | 28.1% | 31.7% |
| 47. | Texas | 28.0% | 47.2% |
| 48. | West Virginia | 27.6% | 41.9% |
| 49. | New Jersey | 26.2% | 41.1% |
| 50. | Virginia | 23.0% | 40.0% |
| U.S. Average | 40.0% | 56.6% | |
| 1990 | |||
| Rank | State | Voting-age population | Registered voters |
| 1. | Minnesota | 56.7% | 65.1% |
| 2. | Montana | 56.7% | 75.0% |
| 3. | Maine | 56.1% | 59.9% |
| 4. | Oregon | 52.4% | 75.4% |
| 5. | S. Dakota | 52.3% | 61.9% |
| 6. | Alaska | 52.0% | 66.0% |
| 7. | Vermont | 51.3% | 61.4% |
| 8. | Massachusetts | 51.0% | 72.9% |
| 9. | N. Dakota | 50.7% | N/A |
| 10. | Nebraska | 50.3% | 66.7% |
| 11. | Wyoming | 48.6% | 72.1% |
| 12. | Rhode Island | 47.2% | 67.8% |
| 13. | Iowa | 46.9% | 62.3% |
| 14. | Louisiana | 46.6% | 65.8% |
| 15. | Idaho | 46.0% | 59.4% |
| 16. | Connecticut | 45.4% | 67.1% |
| 17. | Kansas | 43.2% | 66.8% |
| 18. | Ohio | 42.8% | 59.6% |
| 19. | Arizona | 42.3% | 58.9% |
| 20. | Utah | 41.9% | 58.6% |
| 21. | Hawaii | 41.5% | 78.2% |
| 22. | Colorado | 41.3% | 53.2% |
| 23. | California | 41.0% | 58.6% |
| 24. | N. Carolina | 40.8% | 61.9% |
| 25. | Alabama | 39.7% | 51.2% |
| 26. | Illinois | 39.4% | 56.7% |
| 27. | Arkansas | 39.1% | 57.1% |
| 28. | Michigan | 38.7% | 44.8% |
| 29. | Wisconsin | 38.7% | N/A |
| 30. | Oklahoma | 38.7% | 45.3% |
| 31. | Indiana | 37.8% | 54.7% |
| 32. | New Mexico | 37.7% | 62.5% |
| 33. | Nevada | 37.4% | 62.2% |
| 34. | Washington | 37.3% | 61.2% |
| 35. | Kentucky | 36.0% | 52.6% |
| 36. | Delaware | 35.0% | 60.2% |
| 37. | Florida | 34.8% | 58.6% |
| 38. | Missouri | 34.8% | 49.2% |
| 39. | New Hampshire | 34.3% | 44.8% |
| 40. | Pennsylvania | 33.1% | 54.0% |
| 41. | New Jersey | 32.4% | 52.1% |
| 42. | Texas | 32.0% | 50.6% |
| 43. | Maryland | 30.7% | 52.0% |
| 44. | Georgia | 30.5% | 52.3% |
| 45. | South Carolina | 30.3% | 58.4% |
| 46. | West Virginia | 30.2% | 45.7% |
| 47. | New York | 29.9% | 49.5% |
| 48. | Virginia | 24.3% | 42.1% |
| 49. | Tennessee | 21.6% | 32.1% |
| 50. | Mississippi | 19.7% | 23.2% |
| U.S. Average | 40.4% | 57.7% | |
| 1994 | |||
| Rank | State | Voting-age population | Registered voters |
| 1. | New Hampshire | 64.7% | 82.6% |
| 2. | S. Dakota | 62.5% | 73.8% |
| 3. | Montana | 61.3% | 69.8% |
| 4. | Wyoming | 59.5% | 86.1% |
| 5. | Maine | 5.0% | 54.6% |
| 6. | Oregon | 54.9% | 68.4% |
| 7. | Minnesota | 53.4% | 62.8% |
| 8. | Idaho | 52.2% | 67.0% |
| 9. | N. Dakota | 50.8% | N/A |
| 10. | Nebraska | 49.8% | 64.5% |
| 11. | Alaska | 49.7% | 63.4% |
| 12. | Vermont | 49.4% | 56.8% |
| 13. | Massachusetts | 48.9% | 70.8% |
| 14. | Iowa | 48.4% | 62.7% |
| 15. | Rhode Island | 47.3% | 65.4% |
| 16. | California | 47.0% | 60.5% |
| 17. | Connecticut | 46.9% | 65.1% |
| 18. | Michigan | 45.5% | 51.2% |
| 19. | Missouri | 45.5% | 60.1% |
| 20. | Kansas | 44.3% | 63.6% |
| 21. | Ohio | 44.0% | 57.3% |
| 22. | Colorado | 43.7% | 57.7% |
| 23. | Washington | 43.3% | 59.8% |
| 24. | Utah | 43.2% | 57.8% |
| 25. | Hawaii | 42.4% | 77.3% |
| 26. | Oklahoma | 41.8% | 48.7% |
| 27. | Virginia | 41.8% | 69.3% |
| 28. | New Mexico | 41.6% | 68.0% |
| 29. | Tennessee | 41.5% | 56.6% |
| 30. | Wisconsin | 41.4% | N/A |
| 31. | Arkansas | 39.5% | 56.2% |
| 32. | Pennsylvania | 38.9% | 61.0% |
| 33. | Maryland | 38.3% | 60.7% |
| 34. | Alabama | 38.3% | 52.7% |
| 35. | New York | 38.1% | 59.0% |
| 36. | Arizona | 37.8% | 55.6% |
| 37. | Delaware | 37.6% | 57.8% |
| 38. | Indiana | 37.6% | 54.1% |
| 39. | Illinois | 37.0% | 52.6% |
| 40. | S. Carolina | 35.7% | 63.4% |
| 41. | New Jersey | 35.7% | 55.2% |
| 42. | Nevada | 35.0% | 60.9% |
| 43. | Texas | 33.6% | 50.9% |
| 44. | Mississippi | 32.6% | 37.5% |
| 45. | Georgia | 32.5% | 51.4% |
| 46. | West Virginia | 30.3% | 47.6% |
| 47. | N. Carolina | 29.8% | 41.1% |
| 48. | Louisiana | 29.4% | 40.4% |
| 49. | Kentucky | 29.0% | 38.8% |
| 50. | Florida | 17.4% | 28.9% |
| U.S. Average | 42.9% | 58.9% | |