• jordanlund@lemmy.worldM
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    14 hours ago

    The biggest reason is that voter turnout wasn’t repressed, the 2020 turnout was artificially inflated by emergency vote by mail rules due to the pandemic.

    2012 - Obama 65,915,795 Romney 60,933,504
    Total - 126,849,299

    2016 - Trump 62,984,828 Clinton 65,853,514
    Total - 128,838,342

    2020 - Biden 81,283,501 Trump 74,223,975
    Total - 155,507,476

    2024 - Trump 77,303,573 Harris 75,019,257
    Total - 152,322,830

    • Baron Von J@lemmy.world
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      12 hours ago

      I would say those numbers mean every election where voters are not able to vote by mail is an election with repressed voter turnout. Because now we know what turnout can be if vote by mail is an option.

      • jordanlund@lemmy.worldM
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        8 hours ago

        Oh, definitely, the participation in vote by mail states is roughly double states where voting in person is the only option.

    • LovingHippieCat@lemmy.world
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      13 hours ago

      No, I know that, but that still doesn’t provide evidence for what the article states, that 19 million people who voted for Biden stayed home. That’s my problem because there is no evidence for that figure.

      • jordanlund@lemmy.worldM
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        8 hours ago

        I agree! At most this shows 6 million stayed home, not 19. You could increase it to 9 million if you assume the Trump +3 million was a flip instead of staying home.

    • teodor_from_achewood@lemmy.world
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      13 hours ago

      Millions of people have voted by mail for decades, that doesn’t explain why more people voted for Biden in 2020 than anyone in 2024.