Voter Turnout

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%

Source: Turnout percentages calculated by CommonWealth based on figures from The Book of the States, 1996-97 (The Council of State Governments), and the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate.