It was a mess. 2020 was a year defined by masks, Zoom calls, and a general sense that the world was tilting on its axis. Yet, in the middle of a global pandemic that shuttered businesses and kept families apart, something weird happened at the ballot box. Americans showed up. They showed up in numbers we haven't seen since the early 20th century. Roughly 158.4 million people cast a vote. That’s about 66% of the voting-eligible population.
Why? Why did more people vote in 2020 when it was technically harder—or at least scarier—to leave the house?
If you ask a pundit, they’ll give you a one-sentence answer about hatred or love for a specific candidate. But it’s never that simple. The truth is a mix of massive legal changes, a country that felt like it was on fire, and the fact that for the first time in history, voting became something you could do while sitting in your pajamas on a Tuesday morning.
The Massive Shift in How We Actually Vote
For decades, the "Election Day" model was the standard. You woke up, stood in a line at a church or a school gym, got your sticker, and went to work. 2020 blew that up. Because of COVID-19, states scrambled to change their rules. This is a huge part of why did more people vote in 2020.
Take a look at the data from the U.S. Census Bureau. They found that 69% of voters cast their ballot non-traditionally—meaning they either voted by mail or went to an early voting site. In 2016, that number was only 40%. When you make something easier, people do it. It’s the same logic as Amazon's one-click ordering. If you mail a ballot to someone’s house with a pre-paid envelope, the "cost" of voting—the time, the transit, the child care—basically evaporates.
The "All-Mail" Experiment
States like California, Nevada, and New Jersey shifted to universal mail-in balloting. They sent a ballot to every single registered voter. You didn't even have to ask for it. It just showed up. Political scientists have long debated whether "convenience voting" actually increases turnout or just makes it easier for people who were already going to vote. 2020 settled the debate. It increases turnout.
But it wasn't just the blue states. Even in states that required excuses for mail-in ballots, those rules were often relaxed. The fear of a virus turned out to be a massive catalyst for bureaucratic efficiency.
High Stakes and the "Negative Partisanship" Engine
People don't just vote because it's easy. They vote because they’re annoyed, scared, or deeply invested. 2020 was the peak of "negative partisanship." That’s a fancy political science term that basically means you aren't voting for your guy; you're voting against the other guy because you think they’ll ruin the country.
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Donald Trump is a turnout machine. For both sides.
His supporters are intensely loyal. They see him as a disruptor who speaks for them. His detractors see him as an existential threat to democracy. When both sides feel that the stakes are literally "the survival of the nation," they don't stay home. According to the Pew Research Center, about 75% of voters in 2020 said it "really mattered" who won. Compare that to the 2000 election, where only 50% felt that way.
The George Floyd protests in the summer of 2020 also played a massive role. The country was in a state of high tension. Millions of people were in the streets. That energy didn't just disappear; it pivoted toward the ballot box. Activists on the left used that momentum to register voters in historic numbers, particularly among young people and Black communities. On the right, the "Law and Order" messaging served as a counter-signal that fired up the Republican base.
Money, Ads, and the Death of the "Quiet" Election
If you lived in a swing state like Pennsylvania or Arizona in 2020, you couldn't breathe without seeing a political ad. The spending was astronomical. We’re talking over $14 billion spent on the federal elections. That is double what was spent in 2016.
Where did that money go?
- Digital micro-targeting that follows you across the internet.
- Massive "Get Out The Vote" (GOTV) operations.
- Constant texting—honestly, the most annoying part of the year.
But it worked.
Organizations like Fair Fight, led by Stacey Abrams in Georgia, changed the game. They didn't just run ads; they spent years doing the "unsexy" work of checking voter rolls, helping people get IDs, and explaining how to use drop boxes. Georgia, a state that hadn't gone blue in decades, saw a massive surge in turnout because of this ground-level infrastructure. You can't ignore the sheer logistical power of billions of dollars.
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The Youth Vote Finally Showed Up
We’ve heard the "youth will save us" narrative for years, and usually, it’s a letdown. Young people historically have the worst turnout. But 2020 was different.
The Tufts University CIRCLE study found that turnout among voters aged 18-29 was roughly 50-52%. That’s a huge jump from the 42-44% we saw in 2016. Why did more people vote in 2020 from this specific demographic? Social media played a part, sure, but it was also the issues. Climate change, student debt, and racial justice weren't just "politics" to this group; they were personal.
Also, TikTok. Seriously. The way information—and misinformation—traveled in 2020 was faster than anything we’ve ever seen. Voting became a trend. It became a social signal. When you see every influencer you follow posting a "Voted" selfie, the social pressure to participate becomes a real factor.
Addressing the "Stolen Election" Narratives and Turnout
You can't talk about 2020 turnout without talking about the controversy. Some people look at the high numbers and think, "Something's fishy." They point to the 81 million votes for Joe Biden—the most for any candidate ever—and find it hard to believe.
However, when you look at the raw data, the surge was universal. It wasn't just Biden. Donald Trump received 74 million votes, which was also a record. He got 11 million more votes than he did in 2016.
The "why" isn't about fraud; it's about the expansion of the electorate. People who had sat out for decades—the "disengaged" or "low-propensity" voters—suddenly had a reason to care and a mailbox to make it happen. The CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) called 2020 "the most secure in American history." The turnout was a reflection of engagement, not manipulation.
The Education Gap and Geographic Shifts
One of the most interesting nuances in the 2020 turnout was who moved the needle. We saw a widening gap between college-educated and non-college-educated voters.
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Suburban areas exploded. Places like the "collar counties" around Philadelphia or the suburbs of Atlanta saw massive participation. These are areas with high concentrations of college-educated voters who were motivated by a mix of economic stability and a distaste for the "chaos" of the previous four years.
Conversely, in rural areas, turnout also spiked. Trump managed to squeeze even more participation out of his base in small towns. It was a tug-of-war where both sides were pulling with 100% of their strength. Usually, in an election, one side is energized and the other is demoralized. In 2020, everyone was energized. Everyone was mad.
Why Did More People Vote in 2020: The Lessons Learned
So, what does this tell us about the future? Was 2020 a fluke or a new baseline?
Honestly, it’s probably a bit of both. We’ve seen in subsequent elections that when you take away the ease of mail-in voting, turnout tends to dip. Some states have since passed laws to restrict drop boxes or tighten ID requirements for mail-in ballots.
But the "Genie is out of the bottle" regarding voter expectations. People like convenience. Once you’ve tasted the ability to vote from your kitchen table, going back to a 2-hour line in the rain feels like a personal insult.
Actionable Takeaways for Future Elections
If you're wondering how this affects you or how to stay prepared for the next cycle, here’s what you actually need to do:
- Check your registration status now. Don't wait until October. Rules change. States purge rolls. Go to Vote.org or your Secretary of State’s website and make sure you’re active.
- Learn your state’s specific "Early" rules. Every state is a snowflake. Some have "no-excuse" absentee voting, others don't. Know the deadlines for requesting a ballot, which are often weeks before the actual election.
- Track your ballot. If you vote by mail, most states now offer tracking. It’s like a Domino’s pizza tracker but for democracy. You get a text when it’s received and when it’s counted. It eliminates the "did it get there?" anxiety.
- Volunteer as a poll worker. Part of the 2020 success was a massive influx of younger poll workers who replaced the older volunteers who had to stay home for health reasons. Keeping the machines running requires actual humans.
- Ignore the "Blue Wall" or "Red Wall" myths. 2020 proved that no state is truly stagnant if you can get enough people to show up. Demographic shifts and targeted registration can change the map in a single cycle.
The record-breaking numbers of 2020 weren't an accident. They were the result of a "perfect storm" of a global crisis, a highly polarizing president, and a massive overhaul of voting logistics. We learned that when Americans feel the stakes are high and the process is easy, they participate. It turns out, democracy isn't dying—it was just waiting for a more convenient way to show up.
Key Resources for Further Reading:
- U.S. Census Bureau: 2020 Presidential Election Turnout Report
- Pew Research Center: The Changing Composition of the Electorate
- MIT Election Data and Science Lab: The 2020 Election Experience