Turnout history · United States
How Americans voted, 2004 to 2024
In 2024, local election offices across the country reported counting 158,211,650 ballots (a partial total: 3,115 of 3,120 places reported), or 67.4 for every 100 registered voters (among the 3,061 places that gave both counts).
These are the counts that each local election office sent to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission after every November election: registered voters, ballots cast and how they were cast, mail ballots sent and rejected, provisional ballots, overseas and military voters, polling places and poll workers. Where an office gave no figure, the page says so and says why. No figure here is an estimate. Voting history timeline for the nation · 2026 early and mail vote counts
Polling places and poll workers
Measure
Counts for polling places differ by year: in some years the survey counted early-voting sites with Election Day sites, and it did not ask for a total in 2018 and 2020.
United States
Polling places and voting sites
Election Day polling places
Poll workers
Ballot drop boxes
| Election | Polling places and voting sites | Election Day polling places | Poll workers | Ballot drop boxes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 94,298 (3,115 of 3,120 places reported) | 87,323 (3,071 of 3,120 places reported) | 772,434 (2,578 of 3,120 places reported) | 14,958 (1,622 of 3,120 places reported) |
| 2022 | 94,502 (3,107 of 3,119 places reported) | 88,574 (3,065 of 3,119 places reported) | 645,218 (2,714 of 3,119 places reported) | 12,917 (1,521 of 3,119 places reported) |
| 2020 | Not asked in that year's survey | 85,676 (2,915 of 3,121 places reported) | 775,100 (2,838 of 3,121 places reported) | Not asked in that year's survey |
| 2018 | Not asked in that year's survey | 98,766 (2,798 of 3,118 places reported) | 642,566 (2,330 of 3,118 places reported) | Not asked in that year's survey |
| 2016 | 111,074 (2,959 of 3,118 places reported) | 86,116 (2,413 of 3,118 places reported) | 917,694 (2,953 of 3,118 places reported) | Not asked in that year's survey |
| 2014 | 114,434 (3,070 of 3,119 places reported) | 80,453 (2,657 of 3,119 places reported) | 730,092 (2,815 of 3,119 places reported) | Not asked in that year's survey |
| 2012 | 111,311 (2,802 of 3,118 places reported) | 84,246 (2,773 of 3,118 places reported) | 887,858 (2,676 of 3,118 places reported) | Not asked in that year's survey |
| 2010 | 110,653 (2,779 of 3,117 places reported) | 95,043 (2,995 of 3,117 places reported) | 769,795 (2,651 of 3,117 places reported) | Not asked in that year's survey |
| 2008 | 115,498 (2,766 of 3,056 places reported) | 100,429 (2,736 of 3,056 places reported) | 878,999 (2,535 of 3,056 places reported) | Not asked in that year's survey |
| 2006 | 100,399 (3,099 of 3,116 places reported) | Not asked in that year's survey | 547,572 (2,847 of 3,116 places reported) | Not asked in that year's survey |
| 2004 | 113,471 (2,780 of 3,118 places reported) | Not asked in that year's survey | 845,941 (2,636 of 3,118 places reported) | Not asked in that year's survey |
Download these figures as a spreadsheet (CSV)
Source: U.S. Election Assistance Commission, Election Administration and Voting Survey ↗, EAVS Time Series, county version (data file ↗, user guide and codebook ↗). Retrieved Nov 2, 2026. File SHA-256 a10de20cba65514f…
Compare two years
United States: 2020 and 2024
| Measure | 2020 | 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voters | |||
| Registered voters | 227,960,026 (3,063 of 3,121 places reported) | 234,504,364 (3,065 of 3,120 places reported) | +6,544,338 (+2.9%) |
| Active registered voters | 209,441,339 (3,064 of 3,121 places reported) | 211,144,279 (3,063 of 3,120 places reported) | +1,702,940 (+0.8%) |
| Ballots cast | |||
| Total ballots cast and counted | 161,104,703 (3,113 of 3,121 places reported) | 158,211,650 (3,115 of 3,120 places reported) | −2,893,053 (−1.8%) |
| Cast in person on Election Day | 47,147,645 (3,023 of 3,121 places reported) | 52,816,499 (2,786 of 3,120 places reported) | +5,668,854 (+12%) |
| Cast in person during early voting | 41,414,430 (2,529 of 3,121 places reported) | 48,872,541 (2,680 of 3,120 places reported) | +7,458,111 (+18%) |
| Cast by mail or absentee ballot | 38,936,515 (2,975 of 3,121 places reported) | 21,866,555 (2,799 of 3,120 places reported) | −17,069,960 (−43.8%) |
| Cast by mail in an all-mail election | 30,399,489 (520 of 3,121 places reported) | 24,979,899 (512 of 3,120 places reported) | −5,419,590 (−17.8%) |
| Cast by overseas and military voters | 938,297 (3,087 of 3,121 places reported) | 779,965 (2,770 of 3,120 places reported) | −158,332 (−16.9%) |
| Cast as a provisional ballot | 1,316,944 (2,941 of 3,121 places reported) | 1,290,602 (2,776 of 3,120 places reported) | −26,342 (−2%) |
| Mail ballots | |||
| Mail ballots sent to voters | 90,657,138 (3,094 of 3,121 places reported) | 66,915,309 (3,115 of 3,120 places reported) | −23,741,829 (−26.2%) |
| Mail ballots returned by voters | 70,510,001 (3,094 of 3,121 places reported) | 47,956,986 (2,957 of 3,120 places reported) | −22,553,015 (−32%) |
| Mail ballots counted | 69,560,316 (3,011 of 3,121 places reported) | 47,629,432 (3,033 of 3,120 places reported) | −21,930,884 (−31.5%) |
| Mail ballots rejected | 560,824 (2,998 of 3,121 places reported) | 584,408 (3,028 of 3,120 places reported) | +23,584 (+4.2%) |
| Why mail ballots were rejected | |||
| arrived after the deadline | 66,954 (2,940 of 3,121 places reported) | 103,433 (2,921 of 3,120 places reported) | +36,479 (+54.5%) |
| no voter signature | 66,798 (2,857 of 3,121 places reported) | 53,511 (2,805 of 3,120 places reported) | −13,287 (−19.9%) |
| no witness signature | 18,377 (1,957 of 3,121 places reported) | 17,624 (1,976 of 3,120 places reported) | −753 (−4.1%) |
| signature did not match | 157,477 (2,363 of 3,121 places reported) | 197,979 (2,399 of 3,120 places reported) | +40,502 (+25.7%) |
| unofficial envelope | 17,715 (1,748 of 3,121 places reported) | 1,221 (1,727 of 3,120 places reported) | −16,494 (−93.1%) |
| no ballot in the envelope | 7,240 (2,078 of 3,121 places reported) | 5,238 (1,994 of 3,120 places reported) | −2,002 (−27.7%) |
| no secrecy envelope | Not asked in that year's survey | 5,881 (1,478 of 3,120 places reported) | No change shown: one year has no figure |
| more than one ballot in the envelope | 8,256 (1,885 of 3,121 places reported) | 667 (2,082 of 3,120 places reported) | −7,589 (−91.9%) |
| envelope not sealed | 3,108 (1,551 of 3,121 places reported) | 5,873 (1,569 of 3,120 places reported) | +2,765 (+89%) |
| no postmark | Not asked in that year's survey | 1,211 (845 of 3,120 places reported) | No change shown: one year has no figure |
| no address on the envelope | 2,169 (1,506 of 3,121 places reported) | 635 (1,614 of 3,120 places reported) | −1,534 (−70.7%) |
| voter had died | 6,598 (2,165 of 3,121 places reported) | 7,261 (2,342 of 3,120 places reported) | +663 (+10%) |
| voter had already voted | 49,016 (2,034 of 3,121 places reported) | 54,607 (2,346 of 3,120 places reported) | +5,591 (+11.4%) |
| required document missing | 7,562 (1,831 of 3,121 places reported) | 22,175 (2,369 of 3,120 places reported) | +14,613 (+193.2%) |
| voter not eligible | Not asked in that year's survey | 12,018 (2,089 of 3,120 places reported) | No change shown: one year has no figure |
| no ballot application | 1,924 (1,841 of 3,121 places reported) | 131 (1,795 of 3,120 places reported) | −1,793 (−93.2%) |
| no election official signature | 132 (1,121 of 3,121 places reported) | Not asked in that year's survey | No change shown: one year has no figure |
| other reasons | 117,123 (1,134 of 3,121 places reported) | 91,955 (1,789 of 3,120 places reported) | −25,168 (−21.5%) |
| Provisional ballots | |||
| Provisional ballots cast | 1,712,860 (2,875 of 3,121 places reported) | 1,736,202 (2,864 of 3,120 places reported) | +23,342 (+1.4%) |
| Provisional ballots fully counted | 975,608 (2,849 of 3,121 places reported) | 1,199,459 (2,831 of 3,120 places reported) | +223,851 (+22.9%) |
| Provisional ballots partly counted | 49,899 (1,523 of 3,121 places reported) | 81,934 (1,802 of 3,120 places reported) | +32,035 (+64.2%) |
| Provisional ballots rejected | 365,262 (2,857 of 3,121 places reported) | 436,251 (2,844 of 3,120 places reported) | +70,989 (+19.4%) |
| Overseas and military voters | |||
| Registered overseas and military voters | 1,253,632 (2,629 of 3,121 places reported) | 1,364,119 (2,707 of 3,120 places reported) | +110,487 (+8.8%) |
| Overseas and military ballots sent | 1,249,604 (3,077 of 3,121 places reported) | 1,327,278 (2,998 of 3,120 places reported) | +77,674 (+6.2%) |
| Overseas and military ballots returned | 911,618 (3,000 of 3,121 places reported) | 806,700 (2,806 of 3,120 places reported) | −104,918 (−11.5%) |
| Overseas and military ballots counted | 889,838 (2,981 of 3,121 places reported) | 905,343 (2,687 of 3,120 places reported) | +15,505 (+1.7%) |
| Polling places and poll workers | |||
| Polling places and voting sites | Not asked in that year's survey | 94,298 (3,115 of 3,120 places reported) | No change shown: one year has no figure |
| Election Day polling places | 85,676 (2,915 of 3,121 places reported) | 87,323 (3,071 of 3,120 places reported) | +1,647 (+1.9%) |
| Precincts | 176,939 (3,101 of 3,121 places reported) | 177,713 (3,117 of 3,120 places reported) | +774 (+0.4%) |
| Poll workers | 775,100 (2,838 of 3,121 places reported) | 772,434 (2,578 of 3,120 places reported) | −2,666 (−0.3%) |
| Ballot drop boxes | Not asked in that year's survey | 14,958 (1,622 of 3,120 places reported) | No change shown: one year has no figure |
Compare two places
Choose a second place to see the two side by side: a table for one election and a chart of how many ballots were counted for every 100 registered voters.
Midterm to midterm: 2014, 2018 and 2022
Midterm elections are held halfway through a president's term, and fewer people vote in them than in presidential years, so the fairest comparison is with other midterms.
| Measure | 2014 | 2018 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registered voters | 190,669,642 (3,045 of 3,119 places reported) | 211,581,430 (3,049 of 3,118 places reported) | 226,339,259 (3,061 of 3,119 places reported) |
| Total ballots cast and counted | 81,133,117 (2,974 of 3,119 places reported) | 120,282,385 (3,084 of 3,118 places reported) | 112,045,485 (3,111 of 3,119 places reported) |
| Ballots counted per 100 registered | 44.4 (2,919 of 3,119 places gave both counts) | 57 (3,022 of 3,118 places gave both counts) | 49.4 (3,055 of 3,119 places gave both counts) |
| Cast in person on Election Day | 48,196,220 (2,883 of 3,119 places reported) | 66,945,285 (2,999 of 3,118 places reported) | 50,459,658 (2,941 of 3,119 places reported) |
| Cast in person during early voting | 8,668,840 (1,940 of 3,119 places reported) | 20,826,574 (2,440 of 3,118 places reported) | 21,156,286 (2,617 of 3,119 places reported) |
| Cast by mail or absentee ballot | 14,195,868 (2,891 of 3,119 places reported) | 20,085,101 (2,929 of 3,118 places reported) | 15,771,825 (2,732 of 3,119 places reported) |
| Mail ballots returned by voters | 19,301,149 (3,036 of 3,119 places reported) | 30,367,474 (3,082 of 3,118 places reported) | 36,681,552 (3,006 of 3,119 places reported) |
| Mail ballots rejected | 268,717 (2,936 of 3,119 places reported) | 430,195 (2,997 of 3,118 places reported) | 549,823 (2,883 of 3,119 places reported) |
Download these figures as a spreadsheet (CSV)
2026 so far
Power & Politics reads early and mail vote counts from each state's own election office and does not add them into a national total. Choose a state to see its 2026 counts next to its past midterms.
How this archive is built
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission asks every local election office to complete the Election Administration and Voting Survey after each November general election. In 2026 the commission published all 11 surveys from 2004 to 2024 as one combined file, with consistent column names and county versions of the data. This page reads that county file and changes nothing in it except where noted below.
- A number is what the local office reported. The commission uses four codes for no number: not reported, does not apply, skipped, and not asked that year. The page shows each as a sentence.
- A state or national total adds up only the places that reported that line. When some did not, the total is marked partial and says how many places reported.
- This site withholds a figure when it contradicts the same county's other answers: more mail ballots returned than sent, many more ballots counted than registered voters, or polling places far above the county's own precinct count. Those cells say so. 1665 figures across all years are withheld.
- Counties in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, and in Wisconsin from 2012, are built by the commission from town or municipal reports. Connecticut's counties are the former counties the commission used, not the planning regions the Census Bureau now lists.
- Polling place counts are not the same in every year: before 2018 the survey counted early-voting sites with Election Day sites, and the survey did not ask for a total in 2018 and 2020.
- The data holds counts for places only. There is no voter-level information.
Files and survey items, by year
| Election | Places | Figures withheld here | Original survey items (ballots cast, registered voters, mail ballots sent) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 3,120 | 7 | cast F1a; registered A1a; mail sent C1a |
| 2022 | 3,119 | 26 | cast F1a; registered A1a; mail sent C1a |
| 2020 | 3,121 | 39 | cast F1a; registered A1a; mail sent C1a |
| 2018 | 3,118 | 169 | cast F1a; registered A1a; mail sent C1a |
| 2016 | 3,118 | 57 | cast F1a; registered A1a; mail sent C1a |
| 2014 | 3,119 | 24 | cast QF1a; registered QA1a; mail sent QC1a |
| 2012 | 3,118 | 872 | cast QF1a; registered QA1a; mail sent QC1a |
| 2010 | 3,117 | 65 | cast QF1a; registered QA1a; mail sent QC1a |
| 2008 | 3,056 | 94 | cast F1a, F1a_NotAvailable; registered A1; mail sent C1a, C1a_NotAvailable |
| 2006 | 3,116 | 158 | cast Q34Total; registered Q022006Total; mail sent -- |
| 2004 | 3,118 | 154 | cast 2a; registered 1a+1b; mail sent 4b |
Every year comes from one file: EAVS_Time_Series_County_Collapse_2004_2024.xlsx ↗, SHA-256 a10de20cba65514f92c9212910ff32e5e9a3fd82baec474ea46793940551e344, retrieved Nov 2, 2026. The commission's guide to the file, which names the original survey item for every column in every year: user guide ↗ (SHA-256 6115d01dffcc356e5e60707ef12a0c7a3c598d2678f9f22c36a2dab3e7693ba3). Each year's raw survey files are listed on the commission's EAVS history page ↗.