Oregon's Voter Participation is Impressive—But It's No Minnesota

Let's break down how many people in Oregon bother to vote by mail.

(Jessica Boell)
By Rachel Monahan

In an election year when many states saw plummeting voter participation, Oregon bucked the trend.

After passing "motor voter" legislation last year, the state began registering Oregonians based on DMV records. That helped a record number of Oregonians cast a ballot in the presidential election. (The number of voters in this election significantly outpaced population increases in the state.)

But Oregon isn't the top state for voter participation. University of Florida professor Michael P. McDonald divided the number of votes cast in each state by the voting-eligible population. He found Oregon had the seventh-highest rate of voter turnout in the nation based on estimates as of Nov. 15.

Here's where we rank.

Minnesota   74.2%
Colorado    71.3%
Wisconsin    68.3%
Oregon    66.9%
Washington    64.4%
California    54.6%
Utah    46.4%

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