All five states holding primaries this week saw higher turnout, measured as the percentage of registered voters casting ballots, than Texas. Of the 20 states to hold primaries so far this year, Texas now ranks 19th despite having the most voters casting ballots. Only Louisiana has experienced lower voter turnout than Texas.
Estimated primary turnout in Florida (34%), Illinois (45%), Missouri (39%), Ohio (34%) and Tennessee (31%) exceeded Texas’ 30%. Texas even trails Idaho, which has not yet had its Democratic primary.
Texas and Florida are the only states in which at least 4 million voters participated in the Democratic or Republican primaries. Florida has about 2 million fewer registered voters, so its turnout is about 4% higher than Texas.
The Illinois figure may be adjusted downward pending the results of a data request we made to its Secretary of State. The figure shown here is based on “active voters,” which the state defines as voters who have participated in at least one election in the last four years. However, we do not expect any revised figure for Illinois to slip below Texas’ 30%.
