How Many People Didn’t Vote in the 2024 Election?

The race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris was close – but tens of millions of Americans stayed home.

U.S. News & World Report

How Many People Didn’t Vote in 2024?

A voter uses a ballot drop box at the Bucks County Administration building voting on demand and ballot drop center in Doylestown, Pennsylvania on October 31, 2024. Kamala Harris clapped back Thursday at Donald Trump over what she called his "very offensive" remarks about women, returning reproductive rights to the fore as the rivals take their knife-edge White House race to western battleground states. (Photo by Ed JONES / AFP) (Photo by ED JONES/AFP via Getty Images)

ED JONES|AFP|Getty Images

A voter uses a ballot drop box at the Bucks County Administration building voting on demand and ballot drop center in Doylestown, Pennsylvania on Oct. 31, 2024.

More than 150 million Americans voted in the 2024 general election, and for the first time in two decades the Republican presidential candidate – President-elect Donald Trump – won the popular vote.

Still, in a year in which control of the White House, Senate and House of Representatives were all determined by slim margins, preliminary data from the University of Florida’s Election Lab shows many millions of Americans who were eligible to vote in the 2024 general election did not.

As of Nov. 15, most states had an estimated 99% of votes counted.

How Many People Didn’t Vote?

Close to 90 million.

According to data from the University of Florida Election Lab, approximately 245 million Americans were eligible to vote in the 2024 general election.

This figure is based on the voting-eligible population – not registered voters – in the United States, which the Election Lab defines as “the voting-age population (those 18 years or older in the U.S.) minus ineligible noncitizens and felons.” It is considered a “more consistent” measure of voter turnout, according to the lab.

And while votes are still being counted, preliminary election data shows about 155 million ballots were cast. This would mean an estimated 89 million Americans, or about 36% of the country’s voting-eligible population, did not vote in the 2024 general election.

How Did Voter Turnout in 2024 Compare to Past Elections?

Preliminary data shows that about 64% of the voting-eligible population in the U.S. voted in the 2024 election.

In comparison, the 2020 general election had a 66% turnout rate, the highest voter turnout rate of the 21st century due to the expansion of mail-in and early voting on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This contrasts with the 2016 general election, which had a 60% turnout rate of its voting-eligible population, and the 2012 general election’s even lower turnout rate of 58%.

Which States Had the Highest and Lowest Turnout in 2024?

In the 2024 election, two states have had more than three-quarters of their eligible voting population cast a ballot so far, according to the Election Lab’s 2024 data. They are Minnesota (76.41%) and Wisconsin (76.37%), who had the highest rates of voter turnout among the states

In contrast, Arkansas (53.47%), Hawaii (50.27%) and Oklahoma (53.28%) have had just over half of their voting-eligible population participate in the 2024 election so far – the lowest turnout rates in the U.S.

Read More

U.S. News Decision Points

Your trusted source for the latest news delivered weekdays from the team at U.S. News and World Report.

Sign up to receive the latest updates from U.S News & World Report and our trusted partners and sponsors. By clicking submit, you are agreeing to our Terms and Conditions & Privacy Policy.