Click and Vote: Citizenship on the Internet

In the 1998 general election, Minnesota had a voter turnout of 60 percent in a nonpresidential year. While this was also the highest turnout in the nation, a significant number of Minnesotans still did not exercise their right to vote. In fact, 1.4 million eligible voters of the state did not vote and 119 million people did not vote nationwide, a 36 percent participation rate. It is not surprising, therefore, that states have been evaluating the ways people cast their votes, to encourage higher numbers of citizens to exercise their democratic privilege. In the general election of 2000, for example, Oregon conducted an all-mail ballot. Despite this, only 61 percent of their electorate voted.