Many people believe their vote doesn’t count. But numbers from the 2016 presidential election show the exact opposite to be true. Statistic after statistic shows that voters opted out of the election, allowing a small group to determine the future of the country. In fact, millions more eligible voters chose not to vote than actually voted for Trump.
Here are nine mind-blowing voting statistics from the last US election that show the power that these voters chose not to use.
76.2 million
The number of Americans who are eligible to vote but didn’t bother to register. That figure is 14.3 million more than the 61.9 million Americans who voted for Donald Trump for president in 2016.
61.4
That’s the percentage of Americans of voting age who voted in the 2016 presidential election, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That figure is down slightly from 61.8% in 2012 national election.
2.8 million
The number of votes by which Hilary Clinton outperformed Donald Trump in the 2016 election. Clinton won the popular vote with 65.85 million votes to Trump’s 62.97 million.
19
The percentage of Americans who voted for Trump. The total population of the United States is 325.7 million people.
7
The percentage points by which the African-American voter turnout declined in the 2016 election compared to 2012. The African-American turnout dipped from 66.6% to 59.6%. Estimates indicate that aggregate number of African-American voters dropped by 1.9 million in 2016 compared to 2012 (15.0 million versus 16.9 million).
46.1
The paltry voter turnout percentage among Americans aged 18-29. By comparison, the voter turnout among Americans aged 65+ was 70.9% The different in turnout means that Millennials are muting their voice in the country’s future and ceding those decisions to older Americans, who may not feel as comfortable with the reality of a global, multi-racial, and technologically-driven world.
77,744
The total aggregate differential in votes by which Trump defeated Clinton in the three key swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. That figure is just 0.04% of the total eligible voters in the United States.
20
The amount, in Australian dollars, that eligible voters who do not vote are fined. Australia has a 91% voter turnout rate in its most recent national election.
27
The percentage of people in the United Kingdom who voted to exit the European Union. Forty-eight percent of U.K. citizens either didn’t vote or were not registered or eligible to vote.
The bottom line?
Your vote counts and has tremendous power. Use it.
