Voter Turnout Low For November Election

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Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson says 30 percent of Indiana's 4.5 million registered voters cast a ballot in last month's general election. The office says Jay County had the state's highest turnout at 52 percent.

Indianapolis, Ind. — Today, Secretary of State Connie Lawson announced that 30 percent, or 1,388,965, of Indiana's 4.5 million registered voters cast a vote in the November 4 General Election. The 2014 election was the one in the twelve-year cycle in which there was not a gubernatorial or senate race on the ballot. The last time this occurred was in 2002, when voter turnout was 39 percent.

Several Indiana counties saw voter turnout higher than 40 percent. Martin, Ohio, Perry, Pike and Spencer all had at least a 48 percent turnout rate. Jay County had the highest turnout rate in the state at 52 percent.

Voter turnout is calculated by dividing the number of voters voting by the number of registered voters. In May of this year, the Secretary of State's office began working with county election officials to update Indiana's voter list. This process has identified inaccurate voter registrations and marked those voters' records inactive, the first step required to update Indiana's voter list. The voter list refresh project will give Hoosiers a more accurate view of voter participation in future elections. When voter lists are bloated with inaccurate information, turnout statistics are artificially lowered. If Indiana's voter turnout were based upon voter participation of active voters instead of including inactive voters, Indiana's actual turnout would be 36.4 percent.

“As we continue to update our voter list, we will have a clearer picture of Indiana's voter turnout numbers in future elections,” said Secretary Lawson. “Bloated lists artificially deflate our state's turnout numbers. By using only active voters, we can give election officials, the media and voters a more accurate number.”

The complete 2014 General Election Turnout and Absentee Chart with voter statistics for each county can be viewed online at http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/2014_General_Election_Turnout.pdf. The report was compiled by the Election Division of the Secretary of State's office from voter data gathered in Indiana's 92 counties.

Source: Office of Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson