Elections Data - Research Guide: Turnout and Returns

(CQ Press)
Data visualization and data download tool for statistical information and biographical information on all three U.S. federal government branches. Includes election returns, 1982/1984 to present for national, state, congressional district, and county geographies. County-level output is more easily obtained from our Dave Leip - data files page.

(PennKey required)
MS Excel tables for nationwide county-level election returns: U.S. President, U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, State Governor. 2008-present.

(U.S. Census Bureau)
Total votes cast for president by county, 1980-2008. Select "Elections (CQ Press)" from the drop-down menu and download as CSV or TXT file for each state, or go directly to Data File Downloads to download in MS Excel format for the entire U.S.

Electoral college votes, 1789-present, general election popular vote counts by state, 1824-present; voter turnout by state, 1960-present, presidential primary results by state, 2000-2008, senatorial election results by state, 1990-present. Spreadsheet versions of data are available for purchase: see our Dave Leip - data files page.

Precinct-level results for as many U.S. elections as possible, federal or state, since 2000, linked to GIS boundary files of voting tabulation districts. These can be linked to 2000 and 2010 census blocks.

(ICPSR Study no. 75)
Number of votes cast for the major parties, and for parties whose candidates received 5 percent or more of the statewide total vote, the percentages of the votes cast for the same parties, and the estimates of voter turnout in Congressional elections. From ICPSR; requires SPSS, SAS, or Stata.

Percentage of votes for presidential candidate; necessarily an approximation for districts that cross county lines.

Percentage of votes for presidential candidate; necessarily an approximation for districts that cross county lines.

Official vote counts for presidential and congressional elections by state, 1920-present. Compiled by the Office of the Clerk in HTML or PDF format.

Electoral votes, popular votes, electors, and certificates of past presidential elections back to 1992 and electoral college box scores back to 1789.

ICPSR's holdings of historical election data cover the years 1788-1990 and consist of several discrete datasets that contain county- and state-level returns for all elections to the offices of president, governor, United States senator, and United States representative. Requires SPSS, SAS, or Stata.

National and state turnout rates for the eligible population in general and primary elections, from 1980-2012.

National turnout as a percentage of the voting age population.

State and county totals for registered voters by mode of registration and votes cast by method of voting, as well as number of poll workers and voting technology, for election years from 2004 onward.

Reported voting and registration, method of voting, and reasons for not voting, by various demographic and socioeconomic characteristics at national level for election years, 1964-present, from the Current Population Survey (CPS) November Supplement.

For tabulations not available on the Census Bureau's Voting and Registration site above, you can extract your own through CPS on Web's online analysis tool for the CPS November Supplement microdata. Reported voting and registration, method of voting, and reasons for not voting, by various demographic and socioeconomic characteristics at national level for election years, 1972 to the present. Supports cross-tabulations and graphing, but not data extraction; for the microdata itself, see CPS Utilities on CD-ROM.

National, state, and regional turnout rates for presidential and congressional elections, 1824-2000, in PDF, HTML, and Excel formats. Penn only.

Registered voters who were eligible to cast ballots in biennial national elections by county, with registration by race, major or minor political party, other categories where available. From ICPSR, requires the use of SPSS, Stata, or SAS.

County-level voter turnout statistics for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for even-numbered years since 1972.

Election results, 2002 through 2013, by candidate, Philadelphia ward and precinct, and type of ballot. Covers general elections, primaries, and special elections. Breaks out votes by machine, absentee ballot, and provisional ballot.

Ward-level results for general and municipal elections in Philadelphia, 2010-2011,

Returns of all legislative candidates for state legislature appearing in general election from 1967 through 2003, and in primary elections in several states from 1967-1989. From ICPSR; requires SPSS, SAS, or Stata.

County-level election returns for Pennsylvania covering U.S. presidential (1789-2000), U.S. senatorial (1912-2000), and Pennsylvania gubernatorial elections (1790-2002), with calculated percentages and maps. Includes directory of Pennsylvania state legislators, 1776-present.

From the U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2011 mayoral elections by city, population, incumbent, winner, and percentage of votes.

Number of votes cast for the major parties, and for parties whose candidates received 5 percent or more of the statewide total vote, the percentages of the votes cast for the same parties, and the estimates of voter turnout in Congressional elections. From ICPSR; requires SPSS, SAS, or Stata.

Election returns at the county and state levels from the mid-nineteenth century to the late twentieth century for primary and general elections on statewide referenda, constitutional amendments, state House/Senate joint resolutions, and initiated measures. The ballot language of each measure is also included. County-level returns for most gubernatorial, senatorial, and congressional primary elections from 1910 to the present are documented as well. From ICPSR; requires SPSS, SAS, or Stata.

Directory of state-level election commissions, which may have data not available through nation-wide sources.

American election returns, 1787-1825, with varied coverage by state, but including some local elections.

Data on elections to state courts of last resort, 2010-2011.