2012 Presidential Nomination Contest Turnout Rates

Last Updated: 2/12/12

Where possible, I link to the canonical source turnout data.

Please see the FAQ for information on the construction of these statistics. The demoninator data reflect the April 1, 2010 Census and July 1, 2010 voting-age population estimates extrapolated to 1st of the month of a 2012 nomination contest, non-citizen estimates from the 2010 American Community Survey (I have not extrapolated citizenship statistics since the 2009 ACS is not comparable as it is weighted to the 2000 census), the year-end 2010 DOJ prison report and the year-end 2010 DOJ probation and parole report.

VEP Total Ballots Cast Turnout Rate is the total ballots cast divided by the voting-eligible population or VEP. In instances where the two political parties did not simultaneously hold their nomination contests, the first instance reflects turnout of the first party to hold their context and the second instance reflects the total turnout of the two parties' contests combined and a turnout rate is reported for the two contests.

Again, please see the FAQ for more information.

Contest dates are obtained from the Green Papers. Dates may be changed without notice. Those wishing to participate are advised to contact their local party.

For comparison purposes, you may wish to consult statistics for the 2008 and 2004 presidential primaries.

Date	State	Election Type	VAP Estimate	VEP Estimate	Vote in Democratic Contest	Vote in Republican Contest	Minor Party Candidates	Total Ballots Cast	VEP Total Ballots Cast Turnout Rate
Jan. 3	Iowa	Caucus	2,347,573	2,250,423	25,000	122,255		147,255	6.5%
Jan. 10	New Hampshire	Primary	1,034,045	1,001,914	61,733	249,655		311,388	31.1%
Jan. 21	South Carolina (a)	Primary - R	3,621,841	3,434,551		603,770		603,770	17.6%
	Nevada	Caucus - D	2,064,446	1,770,920
Jan. 31	Florida	Primary	15,094,059	13,088,171		1,672,352		1,672,352	12.8%
Feb. 4	Nevada	Caucus - R	2,065,822	1,772,116		32,894		32,894	1.9%
Feb. 4-11	Maine	Caucus - R	1,053,285	1,036,235
Feb. 7	Colorado	Caucus - R	3,926,310	3,603,764		65,535		65,535	1.8%
	Minnesota	Caucus - R	4,075,214	3,837,237		48,795		48,795	1.3%
	Missouri (b)	Primary	4,629,154	4,415,112	72,923	251,868	1,440	326,231	7.4%
Feb. 28	Arizona	Primary	4,895,942	4,298,024
	Michigan	Primary	7,547,125	7,241,314
Mar. 3	Washington	Caucus - R	5,274,878	4,804,839
Mar. 6	Alaska	Caucus - R	545,692	507,496
	Georgia	Primary	7,376,260	6,570,595
	Idaho	Caucus - R	1,165,366	1,091,171
	Massachusetts	Primary	5,207,006	4,720,547
	Minnesota	Caucus - D	4,077,730	3,839,640
	North Dakota	Caucus	534,626	524,296
	Ohio	Primary	8,854,904	8,593,587
	Oklahoma	Primary	2,895,300	2,723,104
	Tennessee	Primary	4,939,973	4,682,042
	Vermont	Primary	498,432	489,108
	Virginia	Primary - R	6,316,136	5,763,308
Mar. 6-10	Wyoming	Caucus - R	433,545	420,205
Mar.7	Hawaii	Caucus - D	1,084,589	978,968
Mar. 10	Kansas	Caucus - R	2,170,270	2,041,139
Mar. 11	Maine	Caucus - D	4,516,897	4,443,776
Mar. 13	Alabama	Primary	3,701,519	3,506,778
	Hawaii	Caucus - R	1,084,589	978,968
	Mississippi	Primary	2,241,703	2,153,040
	Utah	Caucus - D	1,970,491	1,829,785
Mar. 17	Missouri	Caucus - R	4,632,138	4,418,020
Mar. 20	Illinois	Primary	9,817,603	8,853,948
Mar. 24	Louisiana	Primary	3,499,821	3,304,711
Apr. 3	District of Columbia	Primary	519,004	470,976
	Maryland	Primary	4,521,084	4,062,518
	Wisconsin	Primary	4,393,518	4,202,090
	Texas	Primary	18,989,257	15,915,758
Apr. 9	Alaska	Caucus - D	546,685	508,444
Apr. 14	Idaho	Caucus - D	1,166,534	1,092,288
	Kansas	Caucus - D	2,172,187	2,042,955
	Nebraska	Caucus - D	1,398,670	1,331,291
	Wyoming	Caucus - D	433,776	420,432
Apr. 15	Washington	Caucus - D	5,286,850	4,815,828
Apr. 24	Connecticut	Primary	2,787,114	2,528,416
	Delaware	Primary	705,473	658,884
	New York	Primary	15,214,317	13,211,191
	Pennsylvania	Primary	10,007,504	9,624,165
	Rhode Island	Primary	833,091	765,324
May 8	Indiana	Primary	4,945,762	4,748,647
	North Carolina	Primary	7,457,823	6,923,832
	West Virginia	Primary	1,479,209	1,453,549
May 19 - Jun. 1	Colorado	Caucus - D	3,943,045	3,619,245
May 15	Nebraska	Primary	1,398,670	1,331,291
	Oregon	Primary	3,028,846	2,802,257
Mary 22	Arkansas	Primary	2,252,326	2,114,416
	Kentucky	Primary	3,378,854	3,242,289
June 5	California	Primary	28,631,583	23,265,447
	Montana	Primary	778,794	767,519
	New Jersey	Primary	6,821,880	5,885,472
	New Mexico	Primary	1,589,265	1,443,135
	North Dakota	Caucus - D	536,179	525,824
	South Dakota	Primary	627,383	611,746
June 26	Utah	Primary - R	1,977,241	1,836,077

Notes: Many states will not hold a Democratic nominating contest if only one candidate qualified for the ballot. (a) The South Carolina Democratic Party will hold reorganization meetings starting on Feb. 28. (b) The Feb. 7 Missouri primary is non-binding. The Missouri Republican Party will choose convention delegates in a March 17 caucus.