Critical Analysis

1. In the 2020 elections The United States had its highest election turnout rate in 120 years according to the U.S. Elections Project, a nonpartisan website run by University of Florida professor Michael McDonald. Its preliminary data shows that the voting-eligible turnout rate in last week's election was 66.9 percent. According to the data from the chart above, what state had the highest percent of voting-eligible people vote n the 2020 election?

2. According to the data from the chart above, what percent of voting-eligible people in your state voted in the 2020 election?

3. Identify any geographical trend in the level of voter turnout in the United States.

4. Why do you think there is so much variation of voter turnout by state?

5. How do you think this information impacts how campaigns and elections are run?

6. How does the level of difficulty of voting in each state (the cost of voting index below)* impact voter turnout (chart above) by state?

7. Since the 2020 election many states have made it even harder to vote. According to the Brennan Center For Justice the efforts to restrict voting have contin­ued into this year. As of Janu­ary 14, legis­lat­ors in at least 27 states have intro­duced, pre-filed, or carried over 250 bills with restrict­ive provi­sions, compared to 75 such bills in 24 states on Janu­ary 14, 2021. Why do you think so many states are making it so much harder for people to vote?

8. Considering that America is probably more polarized than any time besides the 1960s and the Civil War, explain how polarization impacted voter turnout in 2020.

9. Imagine that the United States didn’t have an electoral college. Explain how that would impact the importance of the data from the chart above.

10. Based on the chart above and the map of America’s Racial Breakdown by State (below*), draw a conclusion about race and voting in the United States.

Visual Extension*

Learning Extension

check out the Fair Vote website and information about why voter turnout is essential to a strong democracy.

Action Extension

State legislatures are in charge of voting rules and registration. Contact your state legislature and let them know what you think about your voter turnout and offer them one suggestion of what they could do about it! Share your story in class or online.