It's now official -- the 2020 election cycle saw record voter turnout with nearly 160 million Americans voting. That's a 66.7 percent voter turnout rate, which is the highest voter turnout since the presidential election of 1900 -- 120 years ago.
This is one of the biggest stories of the 2020 election. As this New York Times article notes, the record turnout was driven by "the broad expansion of voting options and the prolonged period for casting ballots."
We are finally making it easier to vote in the United States, with initiatives like automatic voter registration, same-day registration, voting by mail, and early voting. The results prove that when you increase access to voting and voter registration, turnout rates increase substantially.