What was the total vote count for the US, and the percetage of eligible voters?
919344
I don't think statistics can provide a truly accurate answer for actual number of eligible voters.  During the presidential election, the democrats had thousands registered to vote that were actually resting in peace in our cemeteries across the U.S.  Although most of these votes are weeded out..........it makes you wonder how many get counted.
155454
easy answer:\n\nthe American people elected B.U.S.H.
236316
It's more. You have a _responsibility_ to vote. Voting is the orgasm of democracy. Unfortunately, most citizens can't get it up.
978013
A voter turnout of 40%, while better than it has been, should be embarrassing to all Americans. We proclaim our democracy to be the ideal for the rest of the world, even to the point of forcing it on others, but fail to take part in it ourselves.\n\nTwo factors: voter apathy, and the feeling that the individual vote doesn't count.\n\nPresidential elections typically have a lot more press, more nationwide interest. Midterms are more local in nature, and don't generate the same audience or attention.
908774
Impressive really, how you can lump nearly 1/2 the US population into that category.  Ignorance must be bliss.
1009090
The voter turnout numbers are pretty low in general.  Most people are "armchair" complainers.  They complain and do nothing about it, including making the effort to vote.  It's a lot easier that way.
766531
Here in Kansas City....we may have a couple thousand if the news reports are right.\n\nIt's terrible that in this modern age, that voter fraud still continues
352742
it is by the number of electoral college votes.  these are based on the populations of the states the larger the state the larger the number (ie cali and florida are big montana is low) it is not by majority vote or popular vote as some call it.
703709
In MN, they said that 56% (or 57%, can't remember exactly) of registered voters actually voted. And that is actually down just a little from the last midterm election. \n\nNation wide, I believe I heard it was 40% of registered voters.
552061
Well, right off the bat, the US elects everybody by popular vote, right down to the local dogcatcher.\n\nThe confusion many people have is owing to our origins, where each individual colony of Great Britain was used to being separate from the others, and so when we formed the United States, each State had to have its concerns for Sovereignty [running its own local affairs] addressed.  So a system was devised to give the small states equal representation in the congress with the large ones, while also giving the people representation based on how many there are in each state [one representative per so many thousand].  So we have 2 senators from each state in the Senate.  And we have about 456 representatives in the House of Representatives.\n\nSenators and Representatives run for election based on membership in a party.  The people who want to run for office [British "stand" for office] for the Republican party have their names placed on the ballot by petition signed by a sufficient number of people.  Then there is an election to decide which of these Republicans will be the Republican candidate for the office in contest.  The same with the other parties.  This is called a primary election.  When that election decides who shall be the candidate from each party, then the people vote on the various condidates for the office in contest.\n\nWe do in fact have more than the 2 parties.  But the system is so old and our population is so much alike and our domestic issues are so continously the same that most people really are either Republicans or Democrats.\n\nAs far as the Presidential election goes, the Constitution does not provide for the direct election of the president.  It provides for the States [that old States' Right thing] to send Electors equal to the number of Representatives it has in Congress to vote on the candidates put forward, without mentioning how they are to be put forward.\n\nThe theory was that people would vote for Electors whose political views were known, and these Electors would gather together in a College and hash out who would be President among themselves, with the most populous states having the most votes because they have the most representatives in Congress.  \n\nBut rapidly, it fell out that parties would nominate a candidate and the people voted for the Electors who commmitted themselves to him, and then the Electors voted in the College for that person, even though they don't really have to.  \n\nWhat this results in is that candidates spend a lot of time in the most populous states because those states have the most Electors, and there is the rule that the candidate who gets the most votes, even if only 51%, gets ALL the Electors  from his state.\n\nThere is a lot of discussion about ditching this imperfect system in favor of absolute popular election.  Most people would go for it, but politicians like it because they can spout and posture in only a few states and win the election, even though they don't get the majority of the popular votes.
366257
It is due to the system of participation.  The one in the states is called first-past-the-post or a plural majority, meaning if voted for Republican (AHHHH!), but a democrat got in (YAAAH!) my vote would be excluded and ignored.  However, in Europe proportional representation allows for every vote to be counted, and that gives rise to a multi-party system. So, sad to say the only way there's is going to be a third party system, would be to get off your arses and demand change.  Don't tell me, you'll do it right after American idol!! Joking, we Brits have the same crappy system.
249992
I'm going to guess the 51% of people who voted for Bush.  No, that number is probably smaller because most people just don't care.
620035
do the representatives of any state represent the general population of their state?\n\nregarding voting, your rep., rep's the majority that voted.
1021314
In the last polls, 80% of the population was eligible to vote but only 74% of that 80% was registered to vote. In other words, out of a 100 people 80 were eligible to vote but 59.2 were registered to vote.\n80% of 100 = 80\n74% of 80 = 59.2
880524
Just over 70% in my county. Not like it used to be.\n\nAbout 30 years ago I came home from work, had supper and went to the polls. They greeted me very warmly because I was the only voter unaccounted for. After I cast my ballot, they closed up with 100% turnout.\n\nWhen I hear of low turnouts, it saddens me almost as much as knowing how uninformed those few are.\n\nPerhaps we need an IQ test for voter registration, and if you miss two consecutive elections, you are disenfranchised. Sounds fair to me.
856357
House of Representatives = 435\n\nSenate = 100 (two per state).\n\nTotal = 535 (voting members).
955559
try this website:\n\nhttp://www.vote411.org/pollingplacebystate.php