2020 Voter Turnout
A record-breaking number of voters turned out for the 2020 election; in fact, the most votes recorded in modern American history. Over 161 million people voted this year, which is approximately 66% of all eligible voters. Joe Biden received over 75 million votes, which is the highest number of any candidate in history. Donald Trump trailed Biden with over 70 million votes, another record-setter, as it is the second-largest number of votes ever received. Not only has the vote count been extraordinary this year, but the number of young voters and non-white voters was as well. Around 53% of the voters this year were under the age of 30, the highest record for an election. This year the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) worked diligently to encourage voters in the states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, Texas, Alabama, and Florida to vote and be active in this election. While the extra campaigning from the NAACP encouraged POC voters to step up in this election, there are other theories behind why the number of overall votes was so high this year. Many states extended the time for which a ballot could be cast and created more ways to vote, such as mail-in ballots, allowing a larger group of people to vote. A potential factor could also be because voters had more time and did not necessarily have to go in person to cast a vote. Another theory behind why the votes were so high this year is that Donald Trump is a president that evokes polarizing feelings in his constituents and that record number of people wanted to act on their strong feelings. Overall, 2020 has been full of crazy record-breaking events and now this election is just adding to that list.