Fewer Massachusetts residents cast a ballot in this year’s presidential election than in 2020, but more did so than in 2016.
Despite Secretary of State Bill Galvin’s predictions of record turnout in this year’s presidential election, 145,000 fewer Massachusetts voters cast a ballot than in 2020. Certified election results indicate 3,512,866 Massachusetts voters cast a ballot in the 2024 election, compared to 3,657,972 voters in 2020.
When Galvin released the numbers on Nov. 24, he acknowledged the change could be “partially attributed to differences in voting behavior and lifestyle since the height of the pandemic.” The 2020 election took place during the first year of the COVID pandemic, and the option to vote by mail became available to all residents for the first time.
Galvin identified a “significant drop” in voters in several cities, “especially those with larger minority populations,” but only “a slightly smaller rise” in voters in rural and suburban areas.
The cities of Boston, Chelsea, Everett, Lynn, Malden, Randolph and Revere all saw a decrease of more than 10% of votes cast this year compared to 2020. In Boston alone, there were 30,000 fewer voters.
Please note, the data in the maps below show the percent change between raw numbers of votes. They do not take into account the change in registered voters or population.
While turnout in 2024 was not as high as 2020, it did surpass 2016 when 3,378,801 people voted.
In contrast to the overall data, Galvin pointed out that a number of major cities including Lawrence, Holyoke, Chelsea and Everett saw 10% fewer votes cast in 2024 than in 2016 — despite gaining registered voters.
Amherst also saw a more than 10% decrease in number of votes cast compared to 2016, but the city’s registered voter roll declined during that time as well.
