Election 2020 live updates: White House race hangs in balance as votes are counted in key states
November 4, 2020 at 6:33 AM EST
Turnout on pace to be highest in more than a century
By Scott Clement and John Wagner
Turnout in this year’s hotly contested presidential election is on pace to be the highest in more than a century.
Edison Research estimates more than 157 million ballots have been cast for president, which represents a 65.7 percent turnout rate among eligible voters.
That is up sharply from the 60.1 percent turnout in the 2016 presidential election and would be the highest since 1908 — when 65.7 percent of eligible voters cast ballots. (That was before the 19th Amendment was adopted, guaranteeing women the right to vote).
The spike this year follows 2018 midterm elections in which 50 percent of eligible voters turned out — an increase from 37 percent and the highest in more than a century.
