Washington Voter Turnout Rates For General Elections

The upcoming election on November 3rd (in Washington State) is not likely to have a large voter turnout; that's at least according to my inductive assessment. A significant amount of voters do not participate in elections that are not of a national scale (i.e., President, U.S. Senators, U.S. Representatives). The 2008 general election produced an 84.61% turnout rate in this state. That is nearly 2.5 percentage points higher than the 2004 election between Bush and Kerry. In retrospect, even though I would not have voted for Bush, I regret voting for Kerry.

Here are the numerical breakdowns (statewide only) of the past five general elections, except for 2005, whose data I could not readily locate:

2008: 84.61 % // 3,071,587 votes counted // 3,630,118 registered voters
2007: 50.04% // 1,645,652 votes counted // 3,288,642 registered voters
2006: 64.55% // 2,107,370 votes counted // 3,264,511 registered voters
2004: 82.20% // 2,883,499 votes counted //3,508,208 registered voters

Despite the fact that everything on the November ballot will be local, it is still a very important time to get out and vote. I'd be happy to address any election questions or issues you may have. Simply forward an email to jonbrock [at] lackingcreativity.com. I will absolutely get back to you. All of this information was freely obtained online from the Washington Secretary of State's website.