Primary Voter Turnout Stays Low, but More So for Democrats

FiveThirtyEight reports Primary Voter Turnout Stays Low, but More So for Democrats "For the first time since the 1930s, participation in Republican primaries exceeds participation in Democratic primaries, according to a report by the Center for the Study of the American Electorate at American University. The study, which looked at elections held through Sept. 1 of this year, found that more than four million more voters cast ballots in Republican primaries than in Democratic primaries."

"Why is participation in partisan primaries on the decline? Are voters increasingly apathetic, or channeling their anger elsewhere? The most likely answer seems to be that fewer voters are eligible to participate in primary elections. Evidence on changing partisan identification, coupled with state-by-state eligibility requirements for participation in primary elections, suggests that declining turnout in partisan primaries reflects voters’ retreat from partisan identifications."