Americans may have felt like patting themselves on the back after the 2020 election. That’s because roughly 66.6% of you cast ballots nationwide, a figure the Pew Research Center said was the highest since 1900.
That year, 73.7% showed up at polls, and William McKinley was elected president.
But, while it’s good to see voter turnout trending upward, the sobering truth is that the 34% of the country that didn’t cast a ballot, roughly 75 million people, could have had a profound impact on the outcome if they had taken the time to study issues and platforms, then voted.
Which is to say, if you haven’t yet filled out your ballot and turned it in, please do so. It may sound like a cliche, but every vote is important. And the official Election Day is Tuesday, which is your last chance to drop mail-in ballots in an official drop box, or to vote in person at an official polling site.
The percentage of eligible Utahns (defined as adults over the age of 18) that voted in 2020 was higher than the national figure , at 69.17%. As a comparison, in 2012, when Mitt Romney was the Republican nominee, only 56.12% of eligible voters cast ballots in Utah.