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Wisconsin has 2nd-highest voter turnout rate
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Also by Michael Evert:
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Although declining three percent from 2004 numbers, Wisconsin’s voter turnout in Tuesday’s election was the second highest in the nation after Minnesota, according to data compiled by American University released Thursday. In all, 70.89 percent of the state’s voting-age population voted last Tuesday, which equates to about three million people. Historically, Wisconsin has always been a state with high voter turnouts along with the rest of the upper Midwest. Charles Franklin, a University of Wisconsin professor of political science, said the high numbers are likely due to a combination of factors. “This is nothing new,” Franklin said. “Part of the reason we have such high voter turnout is because of easy registration, but also because of the more elusive sense of political culture that can be found in the upper Midwest.” Franklin added that other states in the region, such as Minnesota and Iowa, also have very high voter turnout rates. When asked whether high voter turnout helps Democrats or Republicans, Franklin said the answer is not always clear. “The traditional view is that high voter turnout helps Democrats,” he said. “But on a state-to-state level, this is not always the case.” Franklin said the South tends to have the lowest turnout because of past discrimination at the polls and generally uncompetitive elections. He also mentioned that new registrants, who tend to be young, usually turn out in lower rates than previously registered voters. Despite having the second-highest turnout rate in the nation, Wisconsin’s number of eligible voters participating in this election declined from the 2004 election, when 73.82 percent of voting-age citizens cast their ballots. Beyond Wisconsin, preliminary numbers also indicate that voter turnout numbers did not shatter records as expected. Alec Loftus, communications director for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, said Republican apathy led to lower turnout rates in this election. “Republicans were not satisfied with McCain’s campaign,” Loftus said. “I think a lot of them stayed home and drove down the turnout number.” Mark Bednar, former co-chair of Students for McCain at UW, agreed with Loftus’ assessment. “McCain’s campaign was a huge problem for a lot of conservatives,” he said. “A large portion felt he wasn’t conservative enough. And by bringing in Palin, he tried to bring in the right wing, but in doing so he lost a lot of the base.” Bednar continued, suggesting last Tuesday’s results may signal the need for a self-adjustment for Republicans. “Republicans have suffered a loss of identity in this election,” he said. “We need to create the Republican Party of the 21st century that addresses issues in a 21st-century kind of way.” Minnesota, the champion of voter turnout in this election, saw a 75.86 percent participation rate. The high number in that state was likely influenced at least in part by a tight Senate race between Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman. Coleman won that race by margin of little more than 200 votes, triggering an automatic recount that will begin once results are certified on Nov. 18.
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They say it like it’s a good thing. It just means more uniformed, ignorant people are voting…which I suppose is fine if you want uninformed, ignorant government.
@9:28, I suppose the alternative is to go back to the system of voting eligible white, male landowners to make your WASPiness happy?
You would make Olbermann’s “worser” tonight iif you mattered.
the government is supposed to be a government of the people, it is supposed to reflect the will of the people. This is not Plato’s society, where only the smartest are in the government, which has a plethora of problems. We are a country of ignorance, and sadly, that should be reflected in our government, that doesn’t mean however, that high voter turn out is a bad thing, as you have just suggested in your earlier post. Proof: we didn’t elect Sarah Palin. There is a lot of ignorance in the actual voting process, but very few people generally take part in the nomination process, so we get qualified candidates for the ignorant and uninformed to vote on.
how can anyone be looking at a high turnout as a bad thing? That is the beautiful thing about this country, if you care enough to make it to your local polling place u can make your wishes or voice heard. Props to the citizens of Wisconsin for participating on Nov 4th
To me is shows that Wisconsin is probably one of the smartest, more well informed states in the country. Our people follow the elections, know of the candidates and vote, for whatever reason, smart or dumb, they get out and vote. Same with the other upper midwest states…
Then again, I knew Wisconsin was one of the smartest states around anyways :^). Minnesota should cherish beating us in this though, since they won’t be beating us again this week!
Mr. Loftus, I think that you should know that the base of the Republican Party IS the right wing. The conservatives of which you speak are not the base. Palin got the base, the right wingers, but she turned away the conservatives with her folksiness, blatant ignorance of world affairs, and witch-doctor experiences. I imagine that Mr. Loftus is a true conservative (they tend to be smart and smart people go to UW), and I hope that maybe you help the Republican Party become truly conservative again. I won’t vote with you, but I’ll respect you;)
Yep, North Central is awesome. Still could be better though. Consider that Germany’s elections in ‘05 had a similar percentage turnout to MN and that was the lowest turnout for that country ever.