Turnout

Turnout in the 1992 presidential primaries reached record lows.  The Committee for the Study of the American Electorate, a non-partisan, non-profit research organization based in Washington, found that only 33,637,075 of 171,003,000 eligible Americans voted in the Presidential primaries, a 19.6 percent turnout.[1]  Overall turnout declined by 8.8 percent from 1988 levels in comparable primaries; Democratic turnout in comparable primaries was 16.0 percent lower in comparable primaries while Republican turnout dropped by only 0.7 percent.

Accounting for the drop in Democratic turnout, Curtis B. Gans, the Committee's Director, stated that, "large numbers of Democrats were dismayed by their choices after the early primaries and chose to stay home."  Gans said that a 20-35% protest vote against President Bush in each primary held Republican turnout up.  He noted that after Pennsylvania, Perot became a factor and there were many write-ins and votes for uncommitted slates.

Despite Bill Clinton's rough going in New Hampshire, by the end of the primary season he had done remarkably well.  Clinton's 32 primary victories were more than any previous Democratic candidate and his almost 10.5 million primary votes were more than any candidate of either party had ever won.[2]

 Total Vote in Presidential Preference Primary Elections.
Democratic Primary Vote   
Bill Clinton
 10,495,008
 51.85%
Jerry Brown
 4,071,210
 20.12%
Paul Tsongas
 3,656,104
 18.06%
Uncommitted
 565,626
 2.79%
Bob Kerrey
 318,460
 1.57%
Tom Harkin
 280,304
 1.38%

Republican Primary Vote
George Bush
 9,199,463
 72.57%
Pat Buchanan
 2,899,488
 22.87%
Undeclared
 174,643
 1.38%


SOURCE: The Election Data Book: A Statistical Portrait of Voting in America 1992 (Bernan Press).[3]



Notes.
1. CSAE released its report on July 1, 1992.  Note that this turnout figure is based on eligible voters (voting age population) rather than registration figures, and includes all primary votes.  If one excludes states with only one primary (New York and Utah), the turnout figure becomes 20.9% (32,654,519 of 156,252,000 eligible voters).

2. Rhodes Cook.  "Clinton's Moment To Seize."  Congressional Quarterly Guide to the 1992 Democratic National Convention.  A Supplement to Vol. 50, No. 27 (July 4, 1992), page 7.

3. The Committee for the Study of the American Electorate cites totals of 20,568,276 in Democratic primaries and 13,030,087 in Republican primaries.  In both instances, CSAE's higher numbers stem from its use of Senate primary figures in California.  It did this to compensate for the fact that California counted write-ins for Ross Perot as invalid ballots.



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