Turnout as a Percentage of Voting-Age Population in Five Types of Texas Elections and Presidential Elections Nationwide, 1970-2022
| category | Presidential Elections-National | Presidential Elections-Texas | Gubernatorial Elections | Presidential Primaries | Gubernatorial Primaries | Special Constitutional Elections |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | null | null | 31.12 | null | 15.59 | null |
| 1971 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
| 1972 | 55.21 | 44.90 | null | 29.84 | null | null |
| 1973 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
| 1974 | null | null | 19.99 | null | 19.21 | null |
| 1975 | null | null | null | null | null | null |
| 1976 | 53.55 | 46.14 | null | 21.37 | null | null |
| 1977 | null | null | null | null | null | 6.22 |
| 1978 | null | null | 25.29 | null | 21.04 | null |
| 1979 | null | null | null | null | null | 4.61 |
| 1980 | 52.56 | 45.55 | null | 19.10 | null | null |
| 1981 | null | null | null | null | null | 8.07 |
| 1982 | null | null | 29.82 | null | 14.81 | null |
| 1983 | null | null | null | null | null | 6.91 |
| 1984 | 53.11 | 47.55 | null | 15.86 | null | null |
| 1985 | null | null | null | null | null | 8.24 |
| 1986 | null | null | 29.05 | null | 13.85 | null |
| 1987 | null | null | null | null | null | 18.61 |
| 1988 | 50.11 | 44.34 | null | 22.73 | null | null |
| 1989 | null | null | null | null | null | 9.33 |
| 1990 | null | null | 31.08 | null | 18.70 | null |
| 1991 | null | null | null | null | null | 16.16 |
| 1992 | 55.09 | 47.64 | null | 17.65 | null | null |
| 1993 | null | null | null | null | null | 8.52 |
| 1994 | null | null | 33.62 | null | 12.19 | null |
| 1995 | null | null | null | null | null | 5.55 |
| 1996 | 49.08 | 40.97 | null | 14.17 | null | null |
| 1997 | null | null | null | null | null | 8.45 |
| 1998 | null | null | 26.53 | null | 8.95 | null |
| 1999 | null | null | null | null | null | 6.69 |
| 2000 | 51.30 | 44.25 | null | 13.22 | null | null |
| 2001 | null | null | null | null | null | 5.58 |
| 2002 | null | null | 29.35 | null | 10.62 | null |
| 2003 | null | null | null | null | null | 9.31 |
| 2004 | 55.40 | 46.11 | null | 9.49 | null | null |
| 2005 | null | null | null | null | null | 13.82 |
| 2006 | null | null | 26.44 | null | 6.99 | null |
| 2007 | null | null | null | null | null | 6.31 |
| 2008 | 56.90 | 45.55 | null | 23.89 | null | null |
| 2009 | null | null | null | null | null | 5.77 |
| 2010 | null | null | 25.74 | null | 11.60 | null |
| 2011 | null | null | null | null | null | 3.80 |
| 2012 | 53.60 | 43.70 | null | 11.16 | null | null |
| 2013 | null | null | null | null | null | 6.14 |
| 2014 | null | null | 24.3 | null | 11.60 | null |
| 2015 | null | null | null | null | null | 8.30 |
| 2016 | 54.70 | 46.45 | null | 22.13 | null | null |
| 2017 | null | null | null | null | null | 4.50 |
| 2018 | null | null | 42.07 | null | 13.15 | null |
| 2019 | null | null | null | null | null | 9.19 |
| 2020 | 61 | 52.39 | null | 19.04 | null | null |
| 2021 | null | null | null | null | null | 6.79 |
| 2022 | null | null | 37.06 | null | 13.86 | null |
Texas' Old Rattle-trap Constitution Needs Constant Fixing
But incessant, often incomprehensible repairs frustrate and confuse Texans. In eighteen constitutional elections from 1977 to 2010 Texas patched its constitutions 242 times. But on average only a dismal 8.5% of the eligible electorate voted on the 242 proposed changes. Put another way, no less than 81% (but typically more than 90%) of Texas voters opted out of each repair either at the ballot box or through a vote not cast.
Source: Turnout is typically calculated as the number of votes cast divided by the voting-age population (VAP) which is estimated by the Census Bureau as the number of residents in a jurisdiction eighteen years and older. Note that VAP is an estimate since it includes persons ineligible to vote, mainly non-citizens and ineligible felons, and excludes overseas eligible voters. Primary election turnout estimates here combine in the numerator votes cast in both the Democratic and Republican primaries. National Turnout as a percentage of VAP is from the Federal Election Commission at http://www.fec.gov, accessed 1 July 2004 and The United States Election Project at http://elections.gmu.edu/Turnout_2008G.html accessed on 5 August 2010. Texas turnout figures are from the Texas Secretary of State at http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/historical/70-92.shtml, accessed 5 August 2010.