Utah voter turnout among U.S. highest

Voting turnout was up across the nation, including Utah, for last November's presidential election, and Utah was among states with the highest voter turnout, according to a new census report.

Utah ranks 13th nationally in its voting rate, after about 1 million Utahns took to the polls Nov. 2, according to the November 2004 Voting and Registration Supplement to the Current Population Survey.

Some 68 percent of Utah's eligible citizens voted in the last presidential election, up from 60 percent in 2000, according to the report.

Nationally, the census report showed 126 million people voted, representing 64 percent of adult citizens. That was up from 60 per-cent in 2000.

The increased turnout isn't a surprise; both Republicans and Democrats stepped up get-out-the-vote efforts last year, said Quin Monson, assistant director of the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University.

In a BYU study of the 2004 campaign, "one of the things that came up . . . time and time again was the huge increase in the emphasis on voter mobilization," Monson said. "Asking people to come out to vote, really does have a big impact."

In Utah, an open seat for governor, ballot initiatives — including a state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage — and good election day weather, also helped boost turnout, he said.

The voting questionnaire was a supplement to the U.S. Census Bureau's November 2004 Current Population Survey of about 60,000 households nationwide. The voting questions were asked of all U.S. citizens age 18 and older.

The census shows a slightly higher voter turnout for Utah than the state Office of Elections, which reports just under 1 million people voted in 2004.

The census report showed the state with the highest 2004 voter turnout was Minnesota, where 79 percent of citizens 18 or over voted, followed by Wisconsin with 77 percent and Oregon with 74 percent.

Monson said voting turnout in Minnesota and Wisconsin are likely bolstered because they're among a few states where voters can register at the polls. In Oregon all voting is done by mail, another turnout booster, he said. In Utah, voters generally must register 20 days before an election.

Nationally, veterans, those with bachelors degrees or higher, and senior citizens were among the most likely to vote.

The report shows Utah's voting in presidential elections increasing over the past 10 years, said Robert Spendlove, manager of demographic and economic analysis for the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget.

He noted that Utah ranks "as one of the most active voting states in the nation," both in voting and registration.

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