Voting is a fundamental right of adult U.S. citizens; it's protected by the 1st, 14th, 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th constitutional amendments.
It seems unfair that some State laws make it more difficult for certain Americans to exercise such an important democratic right.
Some people were barred from voting by law, and others were effectively blocked by the obstacles put up by new restrictions or by the memories of bad experiences the last time around.
For others, child-care and work demands proved too difficult to juggle with going to a polling place.
Some decided not to cast a ballot on principle.
Others were simply too lazy and /or apathetic to vote.
Over 231 million Americans are eligible to vote, but, based on early results from the 2016 Presidential election, just over 130 million of them voted for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump.
In some of the key battleground states that decided the election, less than a few thousand votes decided the result, proving how important every vote counts.
Over 100,000 people in Michigan voted in every race on their ballot except the Presidential race. They apparently could not summon the courage to vote for either presidential Candidate.
It is in the shame of those who didn't vote in this crucial election that disgusts me the most. In particular among people who have the most to lose in their lives by either candidates political platform.
To not have voted means that America gets what it deserves.
To not have voted means that accountability for what happens in the future is caused by the huge amount of people who did not vote.
To not have voted means you are full of shit to complain later about what happens or doesn't happen to our Nation.
To not have voted means don't blame the results on other people or other "things".
To not have voted means YOU are to blame if the result was not what you wanted.
As of Thursday afternoon November 10, 2016, projections from the United States Elections Project
show that there were 231,556,622 Americans eligible
to vote, but 131,741,000 voted. That means that 43.2 percent didn’t vote, while 56.8 percent did.
show that there were 231,556,622 Americans eligible
to vote, but 131,741,000 voted. That means that 43.2 percent didn’t vote, while 56.8 percent did.
| Here's the still being tabulated National popular vote count, from the AP as of 10:30 PM, Nov.10, 2016:
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| The number of eligible voters who turned out in 2016 was a slight increase in eligible voter turnout from 2012. FEC data from that election shows that 54.87 percent of the voting age population cast a vote for president, or 129,085,410 of the 235,248,000 eligible voters cast a vote. However, 2016 was still far from the high reached in 2008, when 58.23 percent of the voting-age population participated. In 2008, 131,313,820 total votes were cast.
In Minnesota, enough people cast ballots to put the state at the top of the pile, said Steve Simon, Minnesota's top election official.
With its higher-than-average education and incomes, Minnesota has traditionally led the country in voter turnout, although it did slip to sixth place nationally in the 2014 midterm election.
|
Trump was able to pull off the most stunning upset in American political history thanks to the states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, but it also helped that Hillary Clinton lost millions of votes that Obama won in 2008 and 2012.
The result in Pennsylvania was particularly surprising, and Trump won about 80,000 more votes there than Barack Obama did in 2012. Trump also took the state of Wisconsin, even though nobody thought of it as being a potential swing state even a week ago. The Republican candidate won the state with 47.9 percent of the vote, though this falls short of Obama’s decisive victory in the state in 2012, when he earned 52.8 percent of the vote.
The number of voters might have been up nationally, but if everyone registered to vote really did cast a vote, the results might have been different.
Ballots are still being counted, though, so it’s highly possible Clinton’s margin over Trump will wind up being even higher than that.
Of course Trump won the deciding Electoral College count 290 to 232 for Clinton.
Here are the number of popular votes cast in each state, via data from The New York Times.
Ballots are still being counted, though, so it’s highly possible Clinton’s margin over Trump will wind up being even higher than that.
Of course Trump won the deciding Electoral College count 290 to 232 for Clinton.
Here are the number of popular votes cast in each state, via data from The New York Times.
| STATE | Donald Trump | Hillary Clinton | Lead |
| Alabama | 1,303,576 (62.9%) | 717,138 (34.6%) | 586,438 |
| Alaska | 129,786 (53.0%) | 92,013 (37.6%) | 37,773 |
| Arizona | 947,175 (49.7%) | 864,053 (45.3%) | 83,122 |
| Arkansas | 677,904 (60.4%) | 378,729 (33.8%) | 299,175 |
| California | 2,965,704 (33.2%) | 5,481,885 (61.5%) | 2,516,181 |
| Colorado | 1,075,770 (44.8%) | 1,126,384 (46.9%) | 50,614 |
| Connecticut | 637,919 (41.7%) | 823,360 (53.9%) | 185,441 |
| Delaware | 185,103 (41.9%) | 235,581 (53.4%) | 50,478 |
| Florida | 4,605,515 (49.1%) | 4,485,745 (47.8%) | 119,770 |
| Georgia | 2,068,623 (51.3%) | 1,837,300 (45.8%) | 231,323 |
| Hawaii | 128,815 (30.0%) | 266,827 (62.2%) | 138,012 |
| Idaho | 407,199 (59.2%) | 189,677 (27.6) | 217,522 |
| Illinois | 2,117,479 (39.4%) | 2,976,534 (55.4%) | 859,055 |
| Indiana | 1,554,959 (57.2%) | 1,029,127 (37.9%) | 525,832 |
| Iowa | 798,923 (51.8%) | 650,790 (42.2%) | 148,133 |
| Kansas | 655,035 (57.2%) | 413,482 (36.2%) | 241,553 |
| Kentucky | 1,202,942 (62.5%) | 628,834 (32.7%) | 574,108 |
| Louisiana | 1,178,004 (58.1%) | 779,535 (38.4%) | 398,469 |
| Maine | 328,546 (45.1%) | 349,922 (47.9%) | 21,376 |
| Maryland | 873,646 (35.3%) | 1,497,951 (60.5%) | 624,305 |
| Massachusetts | 1,082,521 (33.5%) | 1,964,433 (60.8%) | 881,912 |
| Michigan | 2,278,630 (47.6%) | 2,265,938 (47.3%) | 12,692 |
| Minnesota | 1,321,003 (45.4%) | 1,363,742 (46.8%) | 42,739 |
| Mississippi | 675,842 (58.3%) | 461,105 (39.8%) | 214,737 |
| Missouri | 1,585,753 (57.1%) | 1,054,889 (38.0%) | 530,864 |
| Montana | 260,767 (56.9%) | 161,341 (35.7%) | 99,426 |
| Nebraska | 485,819 (60.3%) | 273,858 (34.0%) | 211,961 |
| Nevada | 511,319 (45.3%) | 537,753 (47.9%) | 26,434 |
| New Hampshire | 345,379 (47.3%) | 346,816 (47.5%) | 1,437 |
| New Jersey | 1,502,524 (42.0%) | 1,964,586 (54.8%) | 462,062 |
| New Mexico | 315,875 (40.0%) | 380,724 (48.3%) | 64,849 |
| New York | 2,635,300 (37.5%) | 4,142,719 (58.8%) | 1,507,419 |
| North Carolina | 2,162,074 (50.5%) | 2,339,603 (46.7%) | 177,529 |
| North Dakota | 216,133 (64.1%) | 93,526 (27.8%) | 122,607 |
| Ohio | 2,771,984 (52.1%) | 2,317,001 (43.5%) | 454,983 |
| Oklahoma | 947,934 (65.3%) | 419,788 (28.9%) | 528,146 |
| Oregon | 725,090 (40.9%) | 919,591 (51.9%) | 194,501 |
| Pennsylvania | 2,912,941 (48.8%) | 2,844,705 (47.6%) | 68,236 |
| Rhode Island | 165,810 (40.3%) | 225,445 (54.9%) | 59,635 |
| South Carolina | 1,143,611 (54.9%) | 849,469 (40.8%) | 294,142 |
| South Dakota | 227,701 (61.5%) | 117,442 (31.7%) | 110,259 |
| Tennessee | 1,515,242 (61.1%) | 865,693 (34.9%) | 649,549 |
| Texas | 4,677,115 (52.7%) | 3,852,923 (43.4%) | 824,192 |
| Utah | 360,634 (46.8%) | 217,820 (27.8%) | 142,814 |
| Vermont | 95,025 (32.6%) | 178,072 (61.1%) | 83,047 |
| Virginia | 1,731,155 (45.0%) | 1,916,845 (49.9%) | 185,690 |
| Washington | 750,719 (37.8%) | 1,118,772 (56.3%) | 368,053 |
| West Virginia | 486,198 (26.5%) | 187,457 (68.7%) | 298,741 |
| Wisconsin | 1,409,467 (47.9%) | 1,382,210 (46.9%) | 27,257 |
| Wyoming | 174,248 (70.1%) | 55,949 (22.5%) | 118,299 |
