Numbers are weird. You’d think counting every ballot in a country as obsessed with data as the United States would be simple, but the reality of how many people voted for president in 2016 is actually a bit of a rabbit hole. Most people just want a single number. They want to know exactly how many Americans stood in line or mailed in a ballot. But when you look at the Federal Election Commission (FEC) data versus the United States Elections Project, you start seeing these little discrepancies that make your head spin.
It was a massive year.
Basically, 136,669,276 people cast a vote for a presidential candidate in 2016. That sounds like a lot, right? It is. But that number doesn't tell the whole story of the electorate that year. If you look at the total number of ballots cast—including people who showed up but left the "President" bubble blank or messed up their ballot—the number jumps to over 138.8 million. That gap represents millions of people who were frustrated or disinterested in the top of the ticket but still cared enough to vote for their local sheriff or a state ballot measure.
The breakdown of how many people voted for president in 2016
Donald Trump won the Electoral College, but he didn't win the popular vote. This is the part that still gets people heated at Thanksgiving dinner. Hillary Clinton brought in 65,853,514 votes. Trump brought in 62,984,828. When you look at the percentages, Clinton took about 48.2% and Trump took 46.1%.
But what about everyone else?
2016 was a huge year for third parties. Honestly, it was the biggest "protest" year we'd seen in a long time. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate, pulled in nearly 4.5 million votes. Jill Stein for the Green Party got about 1.45 million. Evan McMullin, who was a big deal in Utah for a minute, got over 731,000 votes. If you add all those up, millions of Americans were looking for an "Option C."
Voter turnout is usually measured against the Voting Eligible Population (VEP). In 2016, the VEP was roughly 230.6 million people. So, when you do the math, about 60.1% of eligible Americans actually showed up. It’s kinda wild that 40% of the country just... stayed home. Or they couldn't get off work. Or they felt like their vote didn't matter in a non-swing state.
Why the "Total Ballots" vs "Presidential Votes" matters
Sometimes you'll see a report saying 138 million people voted. Then another says 136 million. Both are right, depending on what you’re measuring.
There’s a thing called a "blank vote" or an "overvote." In 2016, we saw a lot of this. Someone walks into the booth, votes for their local congressman, maybe a tax levy, and then looks at the names Trump and Clinton and just says, "Nope." They leave it blank. In 2016, this happened significantly more than in 2012. In a place like Michigan, the number of people who skipped the presidential line was actually larger than the margin of victory in that state.
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Think about that.
Registration versus Participation
We have to talk about the 200 million.
Before the election, headlines were screaming that over 200 million people were registered to vote for the first time in U.S. history. TargetSmart, a data firm, was one of the first to track this. It was a massive milestone. But registration doesn't equal participation. Just because you're on the list doesn't mean you'll make it to the polls on a rainy Tuesday in November.
Turnout varies wildly by state. You've got Minnesota, which is the gold standard for voting. They usually hit over 74% turnout. Then you have states like Hawaii or Texas where turnout is historically much lower, sometimes struggling to crack 50% or 55%. In 2016, the battleground states saw the most action. Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin—these were the places where every single person felt like their vote was the one that would tip the scales.
What the demographics tell us about the 136 million
If we look at who those 136 million people actually were, the Pew Research Center did some deep dives into the 2016 electorate.
White voters without a college degree turned out in droves for Trump. That’s a known fact now. But what people forget is that black voter turnout actually declined for the first time in 20 years. In 2012, black turnout was around 66.6%. In 2016, it dropped to about 59.6%. That's a huge shift. If you're trying to figure out why the numbers ended up where they did, you have to look at who didn't show up just as much as who did.
Women also voted in higher numbers than men, which has been a trend since the 80s. About 63% of eligible women voted, compared to 59% of men.
The "Silent" non-voter
There’s this group of people—roughly 90 million—who were eligible to vote in 2016 but didn't. Why?
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- Dislike of candidates: A huge chunk of people told pollsters they just didn't like the choices.
- Feeling like their vote doesn't count: Especially in "solid" blue or red states like California or Wyoming.
- Logistics: Problems with voter ID laws, long lines, or not being able to get time off.
- Apathy: Some people just don't follow politics. At all.
It’s easy to judge from the outside, but the "non-voter" is actually the biggest political "party" in America.
The impact of early voting and mail-in ballots
Back in 2016, mail-in voting wasn't the massive cultural flashpoint it became in 2020, but it was still growing. About 33% of the total votes in 2016 were cast before Election Day. This included early in-person voting and "no-excuse" absentee ballots.
States like Colorado, Oregon, and Washington were already doing all-mail elections. This usually boosts the "how many people voted" number because it’s just easier. You’re sitting at your kitchen table with a cup of coffee instead of standing in a drafty high school gym for three hours.
Myths about the 2016 vote count
Let’s clear some stuff up because there’s a lot of junk information out there.
First, the idea of "millions of illegal votes." There has been zero evidence—none—to support the claim that millions of people voted illegally in 2016. Every state, whether Republican-led or Democrat-led, audited their results. The numbers we have from the FEC are the certified, legal totals.
Second, the "missing" voters. People often compare 2016 to 2020 and think 2016 was "low." It wasn't. 136 million was actually a very high raw number at the time. It’s just that 2020 was an absolute anomaly where turnout exploded to 158 million. Perspective is everything.
The role of the youth vote
People love to bash Millennials and Gen Z for not voting. In 2016, the 18-29 age group had a turnout of about 46%. It’s lower than the 70% we see from the 65+ crowd, sure. But it was still millions of young people who showed up. The problem for candidates is that young voters are flighty; they don't have the same "habit" of voting that older generations do.
What can we learn from the 2016 numbers?
When you ask how many people voted for president in 2016, you're really asking about the health of American democracy at that moment. The numbers show a country that was deeply divided, somewhat disillusioned, but still participating at a rate of 60%.
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The most important takeaway isn't the 136 million who did vote. It’s the 90 million who didn't.
That massive pool of non-voters is where elections are won and lost. In 2016, the "missing" voters in the Rust Belt—people who stayed home or voted third party—changed the course of history.
Actionable Insights for Understanding Election Data
If you’re researching these numbers for a project or just to win an argument, here’s how to do it right:
- Check the VEP, not the VAP. The Voting Age Population (VAP) includes everyone over 18, even those who can't vote (like non-citizens or, in some states, people with felony convictions). The Voting Eligible Population (VEP) is a much more accurate way to see how many people actually had a choice.
- Look at State-Level Data. National averages hide the truth. To understand 2016, you have to look at the turnout in Pennsylvania vs. the turnout in New York.
- Differentiate between "Presidential Votes" and "Total Ballots." Always remember that some people show up and just skip the top of the ticket.
- Use Official Sources. Stick to the FEC (Federal Election Commission) for the final, certified numbers. Avoid "exit polls" for raw totals; exit polls are for demographics and "vibes," not for counting heads.
The 2016 election wasn't just a contest between two people. It was a massive data event that showed exactly who felt represented and who felt left behind. Whether you look at the 65.8 million for Clinton or the 62.9 million for Trump, the real story is in the math of the margins.
To verify specific state-by-state data or see the official certificates of vote, you should visit the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) website. They hold the actual physical records of the Electoral College results. For a deep dive into the demographic shifts, the Pew Research Center's "Validated Voters" study is widely considered the gold standard for understanding who those 136 million people actually were.
Next time someone asks about the 2016 numbers, tell them it was about 136.7 million presidential votes, but remind them that the real power stayed home.
Next Steps for You
- Download the Official FEC 2016 Report: This is a PDF that contains the final certified results for every state, including third-party tallies and write-ins.
- Compare Turnout Trends: Look at the 2012 vs. 2016 turnout data by county to see where the biggest shifts happened.
- Research State Voting Laws: Check how voter ID laws or early voting windows changed in specific states between 2012 and 2016 to see if they influenced the final count.