Registered Voters, Ballots Cast, and Valid and Invalid Votes, 1921 - 2008
+-----+-------------------+----------+--------------------------+-----------+ | | Reg. Ballots |Ballots | Valid Invalid Invalid |Valid Votes| |Year | Voters Cast |Cast, as %| Votes Votes Votes as| As % of | | | |of Regist.| % of |Reg.Voters | | | |Voters | Ball.Cast| | +-----+-------------------+----------+--------------------------+-----------+ |1921 | 27,404 20,634 | 75.30 | 20,475 159 0.77 | 74.72 | |1924 | 27,104 24,248 | 89.46 | 24,069 179 0.74 | 88.80 | |1927 | 44,089 34,721 | 78.75 | 34,444 277 0.80 | 78.15 | |1932 | 52,610 48,658 | 92.49 | 48,305 353 0.73 | 91.82 | |1939 | 47,306 35,510 | 75.06 | 35,139 371 1.04 | 74.28 | |1945 | 61,203 25,672 | 41.95 | 25,029 643 2.50 | 40.90 | |1947 | 140,703 106,141 | 75.44 | 105,494 647 0.61 | 74.98 | |1950 | 144,516 106,820 | 73.92 | 106,129 691 0.65 | 73.44 | |1951 | 151,979 113,366 | 74.59 | 112,625 741 0.65 | 74.11 | |1953 | 148,478 119,333 | 80.37 | 118,453 880 0.74 | 79.78 | |1955 | 149,380 121,243 | 81.16 | 120,655 588 0.48 | 80.77 | |1962 | 166,936 151,533 | 90.77 | 150,606 927 0.61 | 90.22 | |1966 | 161,490 144,873 | 89.71 | 143,347 1,526 1.05 | 88.77 | |1971 | 181,768 168,913 | 92.93 | 168,059 854 0.51 | 92.46 | |1976 | 217,724 206,605 | 94.89 | 205,440 1,165 0.56 | 94.36 | |1981 | 238,239 225,466 | 94.64 | 224,151 1,315 0.58 | 94.09 | |1987 | 246,292 236,719 | 96.11 | 235,168 1,551 0.66 | 95.48 | |1992 | 259,310 249,141 | 96.08 | 247,139 2,002 0.80 | 95.31 | |1996 | 274,113 264,037 | 96.32 | 261,224 2,813 1.07 | 95.30 | |1998 | 281,078 268,159 | 95.40 | 264,492 3,667 1.37 | 94.10 | |2003 | 297,930 285,122 | 95.70 | 282,213 2,909 1.02 | 94.72 | |2008 | 315,357 294,214 | 93.30 | 290,799 3,415 1.16 | 92.21 | +-----+-------------------+----------+--------------------------+-----------+Note: Under current law, the number of registered voters is officially determined at fixed dates twice a year. The possible impact of a long interval between this determination and the date of an election should be kept in mind when assessing voter turnout rates.
Note: By 1947, property qualifications for voters were abolished and women received the right to vote. Starting with the 1976 election, the voting age was lowered to from 21 to 18 years of age.
