Statistics on Voter Turnout and Numbers of Elections

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Globally, there has been a steady increase in the numbers of elections held, especially since the 1990s:

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Of course, elections as such aren’t a good indicator of the presence or quality of democracy. One important element is voter turnout. Comprehensive statistics on voter turnout are here, and below are some selected numbers:

And some data specifically for the U.S.:

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Turnout numbers in the U.S. differ by class as well as race:

political participation by income groups

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It’s mostly higher educated, white and middle class to wealthy people who participate in U.S. democracy. Here’s a graph showing education levels and % of voters in the 2010 U.S. elections for Congress:

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