Title: 2008 Voter Turnout - FactCheck.org
Headings: 2008 Voter Turnout
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2008 Voter Turnout
What Happened to All That Record-Turnout Hype?
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Content: Even more — 39.9 percent — didn’t vote in 2006. Dr. Michael McDonald, an associate professor at George Mason University and a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, has compiled voter turnout statistics on the national and state level since 1980. In the 2008 general election, 61.6 percent of the voting-eligible population cast a ballot for president, according to McDonald. In all, 132.6 million Americans voted. Some, but not all, states report total ballots cast, a figure that includes blank ballots or those with votes for multiple candidates for the same office. But even when McDonald tallies those figures, and includes estimates for states that don’t report such numbers, the turnout creeps up to only 62.3 percent. McDonald’s figures are current as of Dec. 24 and are unlikely to change much. As he writes, “All states have now posted offical [sic] or certified results. There are a few minor outstanding issues that may revise these numbers slightly.” Minnesota, where the recount battle between incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman and comedian Al Franken has raged on for weeks, had the highest voter turnout, at 77.8 percent.