Reply #15: It wouldn't make a difference...

[regnaD kciN]

A civil annulment (like when the couple got married while falling-down-drunk, just after they met) is not the same thing as an annulment granted by Roman Catholicism or some other denominations (which is a judgement, more often than not, that the couple was psychologically incapable of making the marriage work, no matter how hard they tried). To file for such an annulment, which is granted by a church tribunal, you have to first have a civil divorce decree. So, any Roman Catholic (or other church) annulments would already count in the divorce rate.

What I'm more curious about (even though it may deflate some of the "blue states have less divorces" claim) is how they handle the (extremely frequent, I'd guess) cases where the marriage took place in one state and the divorce in another. For example, my ex and I lived in five different states during our marriage. We were married in Maryland and divorced in Washington. Which state does this fall under for statistical purposes? If you grow up and get married in Mississippi, then move to Massachusetts and wind up getting a divorce within a year after moving there, does that count as a "blue state" failed marriage or a "red state" failed marriage? The mind boggles...