Voter Turnout

[Nation]

Does anyone know how voter turnout was in the seven states last night? As good as Iowa and NH?

[elcorazon]

no stats, but the word was it was VERY high generally, record numbers in SC & (I think) OK for sure.

[Nation]

Anyone know of exact statistics?

[© tweed]

Anyone know of exact statistics?

I'll look...

[elcorazon]

Turnout was WAY higher than 2000 in all of yesterday's primaries/caucuses other than New Mexico where it was down.  This may have more to do with timing/closeness of the race than with an energized electorate however.

[Nation]

Well, we can hope for the latter, I suppose.

[elcorazon]

from salon.com

Turnout larger than expected in primaries


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Feb. 4, 2004  |  

Voters generally turned out in large numbers in the states holding Democratic primaries or caucuses Tuesday, with only Missouri and Oklahoma officials reporting lower than expected turnout.

In Arizona, there was unprecedented turnout for the state's primary as more than 225,000 voters -- or roughly one-quarter of the state's registered Democrats -- cast ballots, far exceeding previous records.

In New Mexico, officials estimated the total number of ballots cast in the state's Democratic caucus at about 100,000. North Dakota saw its caucuses attract almost five times as many Democratic voters as a similar presidential preference caucus in March 2000.

Democratic National Committee Terry McAuliffe said the numbers show there's excitement among Democrats about the chances of beating President Bush in the general election. Several Republicans take issue with that assessment, arguing that primary results don't correlate to turnout in a general election.

In South Carolina, for example, Democratic officials said the 300,000 votes cast Tuesday was high considering they came in a heavily Republican state. But Matthew Dowd, chief strategist for Bush-Cheney 2004, said more than 560,000 Republican voters turned out in 2000 when President Bush was running against Arizona Sen. John McCain.

Not every state boosted turnout. In Missouri, Secretary of State Matt Blunt reported total primary turnout at about 15 percent, well below Blunt's prediction that 23 percent of the state's 3.6 million registered voters would cast ballots.

Many voters in Oklahoma also stayed home as about 300,000 votes were cast, far less than the 400,000 that had been predicted by election officials.

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The numbers are:

ARIZONA:

Winner: John Kerry won 43 percent of the vote.

Turnout: 225,259

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DELAWARE:

Winner: Kerry won 50 percent of the vote.

Turnout: 33,068

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MISSOURI:

Winner: Kerry won 51 percent of the vote.

Turnout: 418,557

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NEW MEXICO:

Winner: Kerry won 42 percent of the vote.

Turnout: 95,313 (with 96 percent counted)

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NORTH DAKOTA:

Winner: Kerry won 51 percent of the vote.

Turnout: 10,508

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OKLAHOMA:

Winner: Clark won 30 percent of the vote.

Turnout: 302,322

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SOUTH CAROLINA

Winner: Edwards won 45 percent of the vote.

Turnout: 292,383 (with 99.5 percent counted)