Updated with easier to read graphs. In 2010, Montana’s voting eligible population turnout rate was 48.3 percent, the lowest turnout since at least 1980. Because more than 100,000 Montanas who were eligible to vote did not register to vote, the turnout rate of registered voters was considerably higher, 55.9 percent. Please see the charts below for more details.
Montana’s Secretary of State, Linda McCulloch, reports only the turnout rate for registered voters. This statistic is vital for elections administration, but useless for elections policy. Suppose that Montana had a VEP of one million, but only ten registered voters. If nine of those registered voters cast ballots, the turnout rate of registered voters would be 90 percent, but the turnout rate for the VEP would be 0.0009 percent. The folly of reporting only the turnout rate of registered voters is clear, and Montana’s Secretary of State should add the VEP statistics to her reports.
Note on 2000. The number of registered voters exceeded the VEP, a consequence of a retention on the registration rolls policy that later was corrected. It’s a textbook example of why turnout should be measured by VEP when elections policy is at issue.
