Voting totals versus turnout percentages
Election-turnout headlines change when using the voting-age population, citizens, registered voters or raw votes. Here both displayed percentages use the same CVAP denominator.
Bars start at zero, and only actual listed observation dates are shown. This is not a continuous time series.
The Census CVAP is the citizen voting-age population; percent of registered voters is a DIFFERENT denominator. Counts are survey estimates, not certified vote totals.
Evidence, limits, and reproducibility
Metric: Census CPS Voting and Registration Supplement; 2020 and 2024 self-reported voting of citizen voting-age population (CVAP)
Coverage: November 2020 and November 2024
Geography: United States; survey-estimated civilian noninstitutionalized CVAP
Observational structure: Two presidential elections, 2020 and 2024
Limit: CPS estimates are survey-based self-reports, not certified election returns. 2024 '154 million' and '174 million' are rounded release estimates; the counts are not exact. No causal conclusion from two election years.
Data vintage: frozen October 11, 2026, not a live data feed. The public release includes exactly these observations, not every monthly record.
Primary-source register
- Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2020 (U.S. Census Bureau; Table 1 and Figure 1: 2020 CVAP turnout and estimated registered/voting totals; checked 2026-10-11)
- 2024 Presidential Election Voting and Registration Tables Now Available (U.S. Census Bureau; Press release: 65.3% voting, 73.6% registration, estimated 154m voters and 174m registered; checked 2026-10-11)