Newsweek - USA (2019-11-08)

40 NEWSWEEK.COM NOVEMBER 15, 2019

Horizons SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY + HEALTH

The total amount spent by presidential and Congressional candidates,

political parties and independent interest groups in the 2016 election

Voting

Voters head to the polls

on November 5th to

elect three governors—

in Kentucky, Louisiana

and Mississippi—along

with a handful of state

legislators and various

mayors. But in an off-

year election like this

one, the focus is really

on next year’s race and

the trends that shape

the electorate. The

following stats provide

some perspective.

—Noah Miller

BY THE NUMBERS

COUNTRIES

WITH THE

HIGHEST VOTER

TURNOUT

(Percentage

of voting-age

population that cast

a ballot in the last

national election)

The U.S. has one of

the lowest turnouts

among developed

nations; just

55.7% of eligible

citizens voted in

2016. These 5
      countries have the
      highest turnouts:

87.21%

Belgium

80.34%

Denmark

78.96%

Australia

82.61%

Sweden

77.92%

South Korea

SOURCES: U.S. CENSUS BUREAU,

ELECTORAL MAP, THE CENTER FOR

RESPONSIBLE POLITICS, PEW RESEARCH,

BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE, RONALD

REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY &

MUSEUM, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

53.4% Ơ The percentage

of the voting-age citizen

population that cast a

ballot last year, the highest

turnout for a midterm

election in four decades

The number

of states, plus

the District of

Columbia, that

have enacted

automatic voter

registration laws

since 2015.

AVR makes the

process easier by

registering eligible

citizens the ɿrst

time they interact

with a government

agency (typically

the DMV) unless

they opt out

49 out of 50

Only two presi-

dents have won

by carrying 49

states: Ronald Reagan in 1984

and Richard Nixon in 1972.

Rutherford B. Haye

1876

65 1

(^15)
1 1 8 6
8
$
John Quincy Adams
1824
1