America's Staggering Voter Turnout Number Is Turning Heads
While every election is important and historic, it seems in interest and voter turnout, that this year is more significant than ever. While most of the counting won't be complete for a few more days, and there are threats of legal action and accusations of voter fraud which will likely delay a definitive final count for some time, as the trajectory of the numbers currently stand, the United States is looking at the highest voter turnout since 1908.
According to Michael McDonald, a turnout expert at the University of Florida who also runs the U.S. Elections Project, a website that offers free statistical analysis on election numbers throughout history, more than 65 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots in the current election with an estimated 150 million Americans participating in the electoral process (via NPR and DailyMail).
To put that into context 138.8 million people voted in the 2016 election between Clinton and Trump, which is only 60.1% of the eligible voter population compared to the more than 65% voting in the current election. 47 million people voted early in 2016 which was a historic record at the time, and this year, 100 million voters cast their ballots early (via USA Today).
Regardless of which candidate walks away victorious, this election has changed the voting trends in the US, and young people, minorities, and the otherwise undecided and indifferent are now engaged in the policies that affect their lives like never before.
Analysts credit President Trump with the historic voting numbers
Americans are invested emotionally in this election and that's entirely due to President Trump. As NPR reported, the President, "has inspired deep devotion and intense repulsion, and that is translating to sky-high enthusiasm for voting."
The division, which has claimed the nation over the last four years, has also been the catalyst that sparked interest in a political stage that most people merely watched rather than participated in. Whether it's social reform, blind devotion, or economic policy, the American public is invested in the election in a way that they haven't been for over a century, and love him or hate him, that's entirely attributable to Donald Trump.
As it stands, the race is still too close to call, and though nerve wracking, Americans are remaining patient and calm, all things considered (via The Guardian). If anything can be learned from this election, however, it's that no one with the right to vote should become complacent when it comes to the politics of their nation, and everyone should be proud and anxious to let their voices be heard in all elections from local to federal.