It’s not just 2020: U.S. presidential elections have long featured close state races
Here’s a look back at some of the closest races of elections past and an assessment of just how common such races are.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Here’s a look back at some of the closest races of elections past and an assessment of just how common such races are.
Americans voted in record numbers in last year’s presidential election, casting nearly 158.4 million ballots.
In the 2016 general election, voters submitted nearly 33.5 million mail ballots, but more than 400,000 (1.2% of the total) weren’t counted.
Votes cast on Election Day have grown steadily less significant over the past several election cycles as a share of total votes cast.
Mail-in ballots accounted for just over half of this year’s primary votes cast in the 37 states (plus D.C.) for which data is available.
We developed this explainer to help people understand how, and why, the complex U.S. electoral process is even more so this time around.
After months of campaigning, debating, polling and fundraising, Democratic presidential candidates face their first real-world test Feb. 3.
Turnout in this year’s primaries for Congress and most state governorships surged compared with the last midterms in 2014, particularly among Democrats. Nearly a fifth (19.6%) of registered voters – about 37 million – cast ballots in primary elections for the U.S. House of Representatives – a 56% increase over the 23.7 million who voted in 2014’s House primaries. Turnout that year was 13.7% of registered voters.
On election night 2018, besides the exit polls there will be an additional source of data on who voted and why, developed by The Associated Press, Fox News and NORC at the University of Chicago and based on a very different methodology. That means that depending on where you go for election news, you may get a somewhat different portrait of this year’s electorate.
The firm that runs the presidential exit poll expects to interview about 100,000 voters across the country by the time the polls close on election night.
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