2020 election sees highest voter turnout in a century

Early voters in South Carolina.
(Image credit: Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

More Americans cast ballots this year than they have in a century — and all the votes aren't even counted yet.

So far, 63.9 percent of Americans eligible to vote cast a ballot in the 2020 election, the highest portion since 1908's record 65.7 percent turnout. Turnout in all but eight states is projected to exceed 40-year records, with turnout in Minnesota and Wisconsin coming close to 80 percent, The Washington Post reports.

Overall, total 2020 turnout is projected to rise to 66.5 percent once all votes are tallied. That'll be the highest portion since 1900's 73.7 percent turnout among eligible voters. A much smaller voter pool was eligible to cast ballots in the 1900 and 1908 elections, as women, Asian Americans, and some Native Americans could not vote, and other non-white Americans were discouraged from voting through Jim Crow laws and intimidation.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Voter turnout has been on pace to exceed records since Americans began casting early votes weeks before the election. Increased access to voting via absentee ballots and early voting likely played a big role in driving turnout.

Explore More

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.