Michigan again was in the Top 10 for voter turnout in the
2012 election, though  participation was
down from 2008.
A study by Nonprofit Vote, a nonpartisan organization,
compiled turnout for all 50 states and found that Michigan ranked 10th
at 65.3 percent. In 2008, the state ranked eighth with 71.1 percent turnout in
the presidential election.
Minnesota was the top state with a 76.1 percent turnout
last November.
Only five states posted a turnout that was higher or the
same as in 2008 – Utah, Colorado, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and Iowa. Michigan
was in the middle of the pack, with a 5.8 percentage point drop. The largest
decline occurred in Alaska, where the ballot minus Sarah Palin resulted in a 13.4
percentage point drop.
Not surprisingly, the charts show that swing states were
among those near the top of the turnout list, except for Nevada, which was in
the bottom 15. After the train wreck that the Nevada Republican caucuses
degenerated into last year, maybe Nevada should just sit out the next election.
Sean Sullivan of The Washington Post notes that President
Obama carried 17 of the top states with the highest turnout.
Sullivan reports that, of the nine states where Election
Day registration was an option in November, seven placed in the top 20 in
overall turnout, including No. 1 Minnesota.

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