Referendum On Trump Shatters Turnout Records

[appalachiablue]

Source: AP News

With votes still being counted, turnout in the 2020 presidential election has hit a 50-year high, exceeding the record set by the 2008 presidential election of Barack Obama — an extraordinary engagement in what amounted to a referendum on President Donald Trump’s leadership. As of Sunday, the tallied votes accounted for 62% of the eligible voting-age population in the U.S. That’s a 0.4 percentage point increase so far over the rate hit in 2008, when the nation elected its first Black president.

The sheer number of votes also set records, although that’s a less remarkable milestone given the country’s growing population. So far 148 million votes have been tallied, with Democrat Joe Biden winning more than 75 million — the highest number for a presidential candidate in history. Trump received more than 70 million — the highest total for a losing candidate.

The numbers are certain to rise as election officials continue to count more ballots. But election experts and partisans already are debating the forces behind the swell of civic participation. Some pointed to the numbers as evidence of what happens when states expand the time and the ways voters can cast ballots, as many states did this year. Other noted the extraordinary high passions Trump provoked — both for and against.

The result: the highest turnout since 1968, according to data from the Associated Press and the United States Elections Project, which tracks turnout. Experts think the 2020 rate could hit heights not seen since the beginning of the 20th century, before all women were allowed to vote. “It’s hard to imagine we can get higher than this,” said Michael McDonald, a political scientist at the University of Florida who runs the Elections Project. An Associated Press analysis shows that some of the biggest turnout increases to date occurred in states that liberalized their mail-voting rules...

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-presidential-elections-elections-c5c61a8d280123a1d340a3f633077800

[unblock]

1. "hard to imagine we can get higher than this"? yet he gives the answer -- make voting easier.

the very next sentence says the biggest increases were in states that liberalized mail-voting rules.

get rid of all forms of disenfranchisement. other than change of jurisdiction, there's zero legitimate rationale for a government to take away voting rights (even then, they're not taking it away, only transferring it to another jurisdiction).

make it easy and free to register and vote and either mail it in or provide many convenient voting locations. make election day a holiday and/or spread it over the course of a week.

get rid of confusing and untrustworthy electronic machines. scannable ballots are easy and leave a paper trail.

no difficult voter id nonsense. allow many forms of id, and social security administration should provide one for *free* to anyone who wants. either all states should be required to accept that one, or all states should be required to provide their own id *free of charge* and easy to obtain.

[Tommymac]

12. Add Same Day Registration to the list.

I hope that these issues get some attention from the Biden Administration early on. We don't want a repeat of 2020 in 2 and 4 years.

Nice OP - thanks!


GOTV GA

[BigmanPigman]

2. Imagine what the numbers would be without all the

voter suppression.

[lagomorph777]

11. Imagine the blue wave we would have had without the suppression.

We need to keep election reform as a high priority.

[William Seger]

3. There ya go, Donnie, a real record to brag about in your concession speech

You got more votes than any other loser in history!

[napi21]

4. I suggest enacting vote by mail in all 50 States. I've been voting by mail for about 5 years. It

gives me the opportunity to check on any candidates I don't know anything about, like judges, & lots of local races that don['t have a lot of $ to advertise. I really believe the vote by mail program is the main reason for the high % of votes this year.

[ampm]

8. Agreed

I think your right and it could have been higher if the post office dejoy hadn't screwed it up. It''s a paper trail you can count

[disalitervisum]

5. Everybody, please vote every time you can

I like George Carlin. And I agree with a lot of what he says. He says our votes don't matter because life is rigged. Let's change that.

[Skittles]

6. Donald Trump LOST THE POPULAR VOTE TWICE

HE IS A FUCKING LOSER.

[djtexas]

7. Biggest Loser?

Considering Trump's vote total, is he officially the Biggest Loser of all time?

[bucolic_frolic]

9. Yes he is. He lost the popular vote in '16 by 3 million, and '20 by far, with 6 million more to come

in the states of CA NY IL.

Should easily surpass 5 million, if not 6 million

BIGGEST LOSER EVER

[FailureToCommunicate]

10. The vote % might have been even higher with less voter suppression. Repubicans tried so

many ways to stop or slow the turnout.

[Tommymac]

13. Not might have been - it was higher. Thank DeJoy.

We'll never know how much damage perverting the USPS did.

And this is only the most visible of all the methods used - traditional and new.



We need to make sure that everyone who wants to vote in the upcoming GA runoff can vote.

GOTV GA