Connecticut’s 2018 Voter Turnout Ranked 11th in USA, Analysis Shows

Connecticut’s 54.8% voter turnout in 2018 for the “midterm” elections ranked the state tied for 11th in the nation, according to an academic analysis.  As the 2020 election looms less than 80 days away, how the COVID-altered landscape and growing controversy about absentee ballots and funding for the United States Postal Service will impact voting and voter turnout remains unknown.

Two years ago, there were five states had turnout that exceeded 60 percent: Minnesota (64.2%), Wisconsin (61.4%), Colorado (61.4%), Montana (61.3%), and Oregon (61.2%), as a percentage of persons eligible to vote.

They were followed by Maine (59.9%), North Dakota (58.7%), Washington (58.3%), Michigan (57.7%), Vermont (55.7%), and Alaska (54.8%), tied with Connecticut.  Massachusetts is next, at 54.6%. 

The nation’s lowest turnout was in Hawaii, at 39.5%. 

Data compiled by the United States Elections Project, an information source for the United States electoral system developed and maintained by Michael P. McDonald, Associate Professor of Political Science at University of Florida. His research interests are in the areas of elections and methodology, and his voter turnout research shows that turnout is not declining, the ineligible population is rising.

The voting-age population, known by the acronym VAP, is defined by the Bureau of the Census as everyone residing in the United States, age 18 and older. Before 1971, the voting-age population was age 21 and older for most states.

The voting-eligible population or VEP is a phrase coined by McDonald to describe the population that is eligible to vote. Counted among the voting-age population are persons who are ineligible to vote, such as non-citizens, felons (depending on state law), and mentally incapacitated persons. Not counted are persons in the military or civilians living overseas.