The United States voter turnout is among the lowest of all countries in the world.
Posted by Pivot, Checked
- Sources
- 2 contradict3 support6 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 50%
PivotSep 4, 2026
The sources support that U.S. turnout is low among developed democracies, ranking 26th of 32 in older Pew-based comparisons and below the OECD average. However, the 2026 State of the Nation data says the U.S. outperforms 57% of countries in presidential-election turnout, which conflicts with the absolute claim that it is among the world's lowest.
What was said
… Why we vote on Tuesday? No good reason. And give people the day off. Yeah, make it a holiday, whatever. Um, and, and, you know, all these years after the Voting Rights Act was passed, our voter turnout was amongst the lowest of all so many countries in the world. During COVID, it slightly went up because we were forced to vote by mail, um forced to make voting more accessible and convenient, but also secure. …
Pivot · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. The State of the Nation Project (published 2026-11-02) reports the U.S. outperforms 57% of countries on presidential-election turnout (out of 44) and says its international rank is 'improving,' which undercuts an absolute 'among the lowest' claim.[2]
Contradicts. World Population Review (2026) lists U.S. parliamentary-election turnout at 64.47%, which is not at the bottom of a global ranking, though its data come from a different measure.[3]
Supports. Politifact (2020) called Sanders' claim that U.S. turnout is among the lowest of almost any major country 'essentially correct,' citing Pew's ranking of the U.S. 26th of 32 countries.[1]
Supports. CFR and FairVote say U.S. turnout is below the OECD average and lower than most established democracies, with midterm turnout around 40% against roughly 70% in developed countries.[4][5]
Context. Comparisons depend on the denominator (voting-age, voting-eligible, registered) and on the set of countries compared, including compulsory-voting countries. The sources' rankings are mostly among developed or OECD nations rather than all countries worldwide.[6][7][8][9][10][11]
Sources
11 sources: 1 fact-checker, 9 not rated, 1 tier 2
- 1A closer look at turnout, young voters and a key Bernie ...politifact.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2Voter Participation - State of the Nation Projectstateofnation.org · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 3Voter Turnout by Country 2026 - World Population Reviewworldpopulationreview.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 4How Does U.S. Voter Turnout Compare to the Rest of the World's?cfr.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5Voter Turnout - FairVotefairvote.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 6Where people show up to vote — and where they don'twashingtonpost.com · tier 2 · cited for: context
- 7US voter turnout recently soared but lags behind many ...pewresearch.org · not rated · cited for: context
- 8What voter turnout shows, and hides, about electionspublicintegrity.org · not rated · cited for: context
- 9U.S. Voter Turnout (And Registration) In Comparative Perspectiveshankerinstitute.org · not rated · cited for: context
- 10PolitiFact: Bernie Sanders' Claim That America Has Lowest Voter Turnout On Earthkpbs.org · not rated · cited for: context
- 11The U.S. Isn't Alone in Low Voter Turnoutusnews.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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