Why voter turnout for presidential elections have decreased in Alabama

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WHNT) — According to data from the Alabama Secretary of State’s office, there was a ten percent decrease in voter turnout in presidential elections from 2012 to 2020.

The question is: why are fewer voters going to the ballot box?

Cliff Burkett, chair of the Butler County GOP, said, “When you have no unity in the country, it’s hard to get motivated to go vote.”

“It’s an uphill battle to get Democrats enthused,” said Baldwin County Democrats chair Robyn Monaghan.

Republicans and Democrats have different takes on why turnout has decreased. Burkett explains that it is due to a lack of trust on both sides of the aisle. “From a country as a whole, I feel like there’s just gotten to be more and more distrust because so much more information is out there,” said Burkett.

But Monaghan said it is hard to get Democrats excited in a historically red state. “Especially on the national level, now the recent changes in our ticket have helped turn that around a lot,” said Monaghan. “And people are coming out of the woodwork.

Political analyst Steve Flowers said this year’s election will be all about turnout. “It’s just a forgone conclusion,” he said. “There’s only about six or eight states that really matter in a presidential race. So when you say we’re a flyover state, all of middle America is. If you look at a map of the electoral college, the entire middle vast part of the country is covered in red.”

Secretary of State Wes Allen said it’s up to candidates to get the electorate excited in an election. But above all, he said you should make sure you’re registered to vote and have a plan for election day.

“Go to alabamavotes.gov,” Allen said. “You can register to vote online- and so it’s from your smartphone. We make it really easy. You can do that, or you can go to your local county courthouse, to the boards of registrars in particular counties in Alabama, to get registered to vote. So there’s many ways you can do that.”

Secretary Allen said he hopes that voters will get families and friends registered to vote as well. The presidential election will take place on Nov. 5.

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