State voter turnout not quite a recordBy Chris Mertes spedit@hngnews.com Nov 10, 2020
Unofficially, Wisconsin’s voters cast 3,296,374 votes cast for president, the most ever in Wisconsin, smashing the record of 3,071,434 in 2012.
The unofficial turnout percentage of Wisconsin’s 4,536,417 voting age population was 72.67%, which was not quite a record. The 2004 presidential election remains the high-water mark in terms of percentage turnout, because the voting age population was significantly lower.
So far (nationally) 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.
An Associated Press analysis shows that some of the biggest turnout increases to date occurred in states that liberalized their mail-voting rules.
Many of the states with the biggest turnout increases — including Arizona, Texas and Georgia — were new battlegrounds in the presidential race, places where Democrats sought to mobilize new voters and shift Republican strongholds. Some analysts noted the number proved the efficacy of voter outreach and organization efforts.