A new report found that voter turnout in Tuesday's election was the same in percentage terms as it was four years ago - or at most has risen by less than 1 percent.
The report estimates that between 126.5 and 128.5 million Americans cast ballots in the presidential election earlier this week. Those figures represent 60.7 percent or, at most, 61.7 percent of those eligible to vote in the country.
The report said that, "A downturn in the number and percentage of Republican voters going to the polls seemed to be the primary explanation for the lower than predicted turnout".
Compared to 2004, Republican turnout declined by 1.3 percentage points to 28.7 percent, while Democratic turnout increased by 2.6 points from 28.7 percent in 2004 to 31.3 percent in 2008.
Turns out, "the registration increase was driven by Democratic and independent registration and that the long lines at the polls were mostly populated by Democrats."
Several Southern states - North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Virginia, and Mississippi - and the District of Columbia saw the greatest increases in voter turnout.
Overall turnout was highest in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Michigan, South Dakota and North Carolina.
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