Washington state has been named as the fourth-most politically engaged state in the U.S., according to a recent study by WalletHub, a personal finance website. According to the study, it is the state with the most civic engagement education and the most voter accessibility policies.
The 2020 presidential election had the highest voter turnout in the 21st century as 155 million Americans voted. But those 155 million voters only account for 66.8% of citizens eligible to vote, according to The United States Census Bureau.
The new WalletHub study evaluated states across 10 factors, including the percentage of registered voters, the percentage of the electorate who voted in several elections, pre-registration policies and voter accessibility policies to find the most and least politically engaged states.
Maryland was named the most politically-engaged state, followed by New Jersey, Virginia, Washington and Oregon.
Arkansas was named the least politically-engaged state, falling behind West Virginia, Alabama, South Dakota and Nebraska.
How politically engaged is Washington state?
Washington was named the fourth most politically engaged state for a variety of reasons, scoring highly on the evaluating factors throughout the study.
About 90% of the Washington state's population that is eligible to vote are registered voters, according to the Washington Secretary of State.
Here's how Washington state voting ranked compared to other states:
— Washington ranked 9th in the percentage of electorate who voted in the 2020 Presidential election.
— Washington ranked 5th in the percentage of the electorate who voted in the 2018 midterm election.
— Washington ranked 19th in the percentage of registered voters in the 2020 presidential election.
— Washington ranked first in civic education engagement.
— Washington also ranked first in voter accessibility policies.
— Washington ranked 22nd in the change in percent of the electorate who actually votes in the 2020 elections vs. the 2016 elections.
— Washington ranked 11th in total political contributions per adult population.
