Historical Voter Turnout in Montana
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Voter turnout can be measured several ways, but the most useful measures are the percentage of Registered Voters who vote, and the percentage of the Voting Eligible Population that votes. Registered voters is a subset of the VEP, which is a subset of the Voting Age Population (age 18+). Montana’s Secretary of State maintains a list of historical registered turnout, but not of VEP. Fortunately, VEP is available from the U.S. Elections Project at George Mason University.
Registered voter turnout is best used for elections administration. VEP turnout is the best measure for elections policy. To picture the difference, imagine there is a Corncob County, with a VEP of 100,000 and 10,000 registered voters. If 9,000 corncobbers vote, the registered voter turnout is 90 percent — but the VEP turnout is only nine percent.
Year | Montana Population | Voting Age (18+) Population | VAP Percent Population | Voting Eligible Population | Primary Registered | Primary Votes | Absentee Votes Primary | Primary Turnout % Registered | Primary Turnout % VEP | General Registered | General Votes | Absentee Votes General | General Turnout % Registered | General Turnout % VEP | Absentee Percent Votes Cast | Primary Percent General | ||
1920 | 543,000 | 230,221 | 102,971 | 44.7 | 261,257 | 178,968 | 68.5 | 57.5 | ||||||||||
1922 | 543,000 | 224,122 | 108,643 | 48.5 | 243,936 | 158,737 | 65.1 | 68.4 | ||||||||||
1924 | 538,000 | 211,450 | 109,688 | 51.9 | 240,800 | 174,415 | 72.4 | 62.9 | ||||||||||
1926 | 531,000 | 205,822 | 103,106 | 50.1 | 227,118 | 153,442 | 67.6 | 67.2 | ||||||||||
1928 | 541,000 | 203,193 | 117,300 | 57.7 | 241,096 | 194,840 | 80.8 | 60.2 | ||||||||||
1930 | 539,000 | 220,671 | 100,157 | 45.4 | 240,086 | 176,161 | 73.4 | 56.9 | ||||||||||
1932 | 540,000 | 232,545 | 126,038 | 62.8 | 265,181 | 216,381 | 81.6 | 67.5 | ||||||||||
1934 | 545,000 | 247,248 | 133,098 | 53.8 | 268,482 | 203,626 | 75.8 | 65.4 | ||||||||||
1936 | 554,000 | 251,807 | 155,781 | 61.9 | 283,695 | 226,353 | 79.8 | 68.8 | ||||||||||
1938 | 552,000 | 248,443 | 151,620 | 61.0 | 269,963 | 208,710 | 77.3 | 72.6 | ||||||||||
1940 | 558,000 | 253,138 | 126,354 | 57.8 | 295,237 | 240,694 | 81.5 | 60.8 | ||||||||||
1942 | 518,000 | 258,749 | 118,478 | 45.8 | 271,773 | 170,512 | 62.7 | 69.5 | ||||||||||
1944 | 469,000 | 203,749 | 85,546 | 42.0 | 248,392 | 197,217 | 79.4 | 43.4 | ||||||||||
1946 | 512,000 | 241,550 | 127,889 | 52.9 | 263,422 | 190,566 | 72.3 | 67.1 | ||||||||||
1948 | 542,000 | 236,236 | 133,742 | 56.6 | 269,779 | 221,003 | 81.9 | 60.5 | ||||||||||
1950 | 591,000 | 250,374 | 128,058 | 51.1 | 272,103 | 210,527 | 77.4 | 60.8 | ||||||||||
1952 | 602,000 | 274,929 | 126,252 | 53.2 | 304,053 | 260,469 | 85.7 | 56.1 | ||||||||||
1954 | 624,000 | 283,651 | 136,466 | 48.1 | 296,611 | 227,454 | 76.7 | 60.0 | ||||||||||
1956 | 656,000 | 273,236 | 136,081 | 49.8 | 316,444 | 263,204 | 83.2 | 51.7 | ||||||||||
1958 | 666,000 | 289,851 | 125,462 | 50.2 | 305,612 | 229,483 | 75.1 | 63.4 | ||||||||||
1960 | 675,000 | 279,685 | 196,210 | 70.2 | 322,876 | 276,612 | 85.7 | 70.9 | ||||||||||
1962 | 698,000 | 301,003 | 152,422 | 50.6 | 318,721 | 248,441 | 77.9 | 61.4 | ||||||||||
1964 | 706,000 | 290,109 | 185,102 | 63.8 | 327,477 | 280,975 | 85.8 | 65.9 | ||||||||||
1966 | 707,000 | 306,852 | 156,042 | 50.9 | 330,182 | 264,971 | 80.2 | 58.9 | ||||||||||
1968 | 700,000 | 299,818 | 203,353 | 67.8 | 331,078 | 285,892 | 86.4 | 71.1 | ||||||||||
1970 | 694,409 | 304,328 | 166,126 | 54.6 | 325,315 | 254,790 | 78.3 | 65.2 | ||||||||||
1972 | 718,732 | 472,413 | 65.7 | 470,233 | 336,913 | 238,215 | 70.7 | 50.7 | 386,867 | 327,176 | 84.6 | 69.6 | 72.8 | |||||
1974 | 736,419 | 494,991 | 67.2 | 492,124 | 352,244 | 179,153 | 50.9 | 36.4 | 373,889 | 260,496 | 69.7 | 52.9 | 68.8 | |||||
1976 | 757,317 | 521,669 | 68.9 | 517,991 | 411,087 | 208,346 | 50.7 | 40.2 | 454,924 | 339,346 | 74.6 | 65.5 | 61.4 | |||||
1978 | 782,317 | 553,583 | 70.8 | 548,934 | 381,769 | 207,903 | 54.5 | 37.9 | 410,046 | 296,521 | 72.3 | 54.0 | 70.1 | |||||
1980 | 786,690 | 559,165 | 71.1 | 554,636 | 452,510 | 228,750 | 50.6 | 41.2 | 496,402 | 371,976 | 74.9 | 67.1 | 61.5 | |||||
1982 | 803,986 | 574,592 | 71.5 | 569,629 | 412,841 | 198,840 | 48.2 | 34.9 | 445,888 | 328,082 | 73.6 | 57.6 | 60.6 | |||||
1984 | 820,905 | 584,162 | 71.2 | 578,925 | 482,429 | 192,226 | 39.8 | 33.2 | 526,841 | 395,006 | 75.0 | 68.2 | 48.7 | |||||
1986 | 813,739 | 577,604 | 71.0 | 572,113 | 421,264 | 166,622 | 39.6 | 29.1 | 443,935 | 326,436 | 73.5 | 57.1 | 51.0 | |||||
1988 | 800,202 | 573,791 | 71.7 | 568,012 | 471,352 | 224,217 | 47.6 | 39.5 | 505,541 | 378,981 | 75.0 | 66.7 | 59.2 | |||||
1990 | 799,065 | 579,158 | 72.5 | 573,045 | 408,354 | 201,118 | 49.3 | 35.1 | 435,900 | 326,652 | 74.9 | 57.0 | 61.6 | |||||
1992 | 822,436 | 599,859 | 72.9 | 593,345 | 479,578 | 247,158 | 51.5 | 41.7 | 529,299 | 417,564 | 78.9 | 70.4 | 59.2 | |||||
1994 | 854,923 | 629,335 | 73.6 | 622,246 | 485,629 | 228,603 | 47.1 | 36.7 | 512,051 | 359,455 | 69.9 | 57.8 | 63.6 | |||||
1996 | 876,656 | 652,991 | 74.5 | 645,052 | 562,579 | 228,040 | 40.5 | 35.4 | 590,751 | 417,232 | 70.6 | 64.7 | 54.7 | |||||
1998 | 879,533 | 662,582 | 75.3 | 653,998 | 602,716 | 161,568 | 26.8 | 24.7 | 639,241 | 338,733 | 53.0 | 51.8 | 47.7 | |||||
2000 | 902,195 | 675,571 | 74.9 | 667,525 | 671,325 | 223,419 | 33.3 | 33.5 | 698,260 | 417,916 | 65,523 | 59.9 | 62.6 | 15.7 | 53.5 | |||
2002 | 909,868 | 689,798 | 75.8 | 684,572 | 606,127 | 174,730 | 28.8 | 25.5 | 624,548 | 340,272 | 54.5 | 49.7 | 51.4 | |||||
2004 | 925,887 | 710,024 | 76.7 | 699,112 | 595,668 | 220,210 | 37.0 | 31.5 | 638,474 | 456,096 | 100,184 | 71.4 | 65.2 | 22.0 | 48.3 | |||
2006 | 946,230 | 731,365 | 77.3 | 720,447 | 626,853 | 212,840 | 34.3 | 29.8 | 649,436 | 411,061 | 121,255 | 63.3 | 57.1 | 29.5 | 52.3 | |||
2008 | 968,035 | 749,775 | 77.5 | 741,326 | 630,633 | 285,215 | 96,729 | 45.2 | 38.5 | 668,085 | 497,599 | 212,012 | 74.5 | 67.1 | 42.6 | 57.3 | ||
2010 | 989,415 | 765,165 | 77.3 | 753,666 | 639,309 | 206,791 | 112,204 | 32.3 | 27.4 | 651,335 | 367,096 | 173,039 | 56.4 | 48.7 | 47.1 | 56.3 | ||
2012 | 1,000,000 | 786,333 | 78.6 | 773,127 | 642,308 | 238,771 | 126,551 | 37.2 | 30.9 | 681,608 | 486,573 | 289,920 | 71.4 | 62.9 | 59.6 | 49.1 | ||
Compiled from publicly available sources by James Conner, www.flatheadmemo.com. | ||||||||||||||||||