About 139 million Americans voted in the November 2016 elections, around 60.2 percent of the eligible voting population.
That's an increase of President Barack Obama's reelection 2012, when 58.6 percent of eligible voters turned out, according to the U.S. Elections Project, The Hill reported.
However, both numbers fall short of 2008, when 62.2 percent of eligible voters turned out in the election that resulted in Obama's first presidential win.
The report said that turnout in the 2016 election was highest in the states where the competition between Trump and Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent, was most heated. Nine of the 13 states where voter turnout was the highest were battleground states.
"States where there's a meaningful choice, where there's real competition, folks are more likely to go out and vote," Brian Miller, executive director of voter participation support group Nonprofit Vote, said.
Minnesota had the highest turnout in the U.S., with nearly 3 out of 4 voters casting ballots. That was the eighth time in the previous nine elections that Minnesota had that distinction, the report said.
States that had the lowest levels of turnout were locations where one party holds sway. Hawaii, a Democrat stronghold, had 43 percent turnout. In pro-Republican states Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia, 53 percent of voters turned out.
Turnout in 2016 was the second highest in the past half century after the 62.2 percent in 2008. In the three presidential elections held in the 1960s, turnout was above 62 percent all three times, the report said.
Researchers in Miller's group said that in addition to battleground states, turnout was higher in states that allowed voters to register and cast a ballot on the same day.
“We continue to see higher voter participation in states with same day registration. The data clearly show (it) is one of the most effective strategies states can implement to increase turnout,” Michael McDonald, U.S. Elections Project director, said, Philly.com reported.
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