Top 10 States With the Highest Voter Turnout

Top 10 States With the Highest Voter Turnout Presidential candidates spend lots of time campaigning in states that hold the most electoral votes and where there are lots of swing voters  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ states such as Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.   But campaigns also spend considerable time strategizing about which voters to appeal to, and where turnout is historically highest. Why bother campaigning in a place where only a small portion of voters will end up going to the polls? So, which states have the highest voter turnout? Where is voter participation greatest in the United States? Here a look based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Of note: Five of the 10 states with the highest voter participation are blue states or those that tend to vote Democratic in presidential, gubernatorial and congressional elections. Four of the 10 states listed below are red states or those that tend to vote Republican. And one state, Iowa, is evenly split between Republicans and Democrat. Minnesota Minnesota is considered a blue state, or one that tends to vote Democratic,  Since 1980, 73.2  percent of the voting-age population there  has cast ballots in the nine presidential elections, according to the Census Bureau. Minnesota voters are, by far, the most politically active in the United States. Wisconsin Like Minnesota, Wisconsin is a blue state. Over the course of the nine most recent presidential elections, the median voter participation was 71.2 percent, according to the Census. Maine This  Democratic-leaning state has had a voter-participation rate of 69.4 percent from the 1980 presidential election through the 2012 presidential election. District of Columbia The nations capital is heavily Democratic in voter registration. Since 1980, 69.2 percent of the voting-age population in Washington, D.C., has cast ballots in the nine presidential elections, according to the Census Bureau. Mississippi This  solidly Republican southern  state has seen 68 percent of its voters participate in presidential elections, according to Census surveys. South Dakota South Dakota is a red state. Its voter participation rate in presidential elections is 67.8 percent.   Utah Roughly the same portion of  voters head to the polls in  Utah, another red state, for presidential elections. Its median participation rate in the nine most recent elections  is 67.8 percent. Oregon Just over two-thirds, or 67.6 percent of voting-age adults, has participated in presidential elections in this blue Pacific Northwest state since 1980. North Dakota This red state has seen 67.5 percent of its voters go to the polls in presidential elections. Iowa Iowa, home of the famous Iowa Caucuses, boasts a voter-participation rate of 67.4 percent in presidential elections. The state is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats. A note about the data: The voter participation rates are derived from information collected by the U.S. Census Bureau every two years as part of its  Current Population Survey. We used  median participation rates for voting-age populations by state for the nine presidential elections  in 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012.