[Mobea]

I was just wondering how many registered voters that are in the US?
On the average how many of them actually vote?
How much money is spent on a Presidential, Congressional, Sentate, and Representative election individually? Does any one know these statistics?
Thanks,
Mobea

[tomder55]

It is difficult to tabulate the current number of registered voters . In 2004 during the last Presidential season here was the breakdown :55 million registered Republicans ;72 million registered Democrats, 42 million registered as independents, under some other minor party or with a "No Party" designation. Total 169 million out of about 201.5 million who were eligible to vote.

In 2004 Kerry spent $1.08 billion and Bush spent $1.14 billion


In the last election cycle the average cost of winning a House race was just shy of $1 million. A Senate seat $7.8 million

[Mobea]

Did I just do my math right? Sombody doublecheckl me. Because the way I figured it they (Kerry and Bush) spent 11 million Nine Hundred and Sixty four Thousand Four Hundred and Ninety Seven dollar 11,064,497. PER REGISTERED voter.
And the Senate spends 1.8 million PER SEAT
Please tell me that I've got these figures wrong.
Oh God, help us. I didn't realize how in reality the rich really are the ones running this country.
I wonder if I ask a candidate if he'll just give me 11million, I'll vote for him. Why don't they just campaign like that? You pay me, and I'll vote for you. Everybody's happy. He gets my vote, and I get the money. The only ones who lose out is the media and the campaign teams. I mean if this is really how much it cost to get elected, let's be fair about it. How much is my vote worth? That's the way they play the game in the house and the senate. We the voters are getting taken for a ride. They pay that much money for our vote and we don't get a nickel of it? What's wrong with that picture? SOMEBODY'S getting that money!

[tomder55]

Most of the money spent was through contributions that are capped through the election laws at $2000 per individual. Just ask the Obama campaign how that works . He is raking in dough mostly through individual donations . His spending will by far exceed the money spent in 2004.

Edit : let me amend that .there is also the ridiculous Federal matching funds that get taken directly from the Treasury. That should be the first change... eliminate that and let the candidates sink or swim on their own.For the 2000 general election, George W. Bush and Al Gore each took $67.6 million out of the U.S. Treasury.

[ShadowTiger]

(Mobea: There's a mistake in your math somewhere. Kerry and Bush combined spent about $13 per registered voter. 169,000,000 * $13.14 ~= $2,220,000,000.)

[Mobea]

Just noticed that my calcuator came up with an error. It didn't go up that high. I still feel that they are spending more than $13 per vote somehow.

[margaret opine]

Close enough, thanks.

[countmagnus]

How many registered voters are there in the United States?

[istewart]

A) countmagnus, if you read the thread from the beginning you'll see the answer. That is, after all, how this started. B) Mobea, assuming tomder55's numbers are right, how you feel doesn't change the math. $1,080,000,000 + $1,140,000,000 = $2,220,000,000 and $2,220,000,000/169,000,000 voters = $13.14 per voter.

[zonedude]

I know this is an old post, but there's something wrong with your figures. There were roughly 169 million REGISTERED voters, of which not all of them voted. Commonly, less than half of registered voters vote in any one election. Therefore, the estimate on how much each vote cost would roughly double to $26 per vote. Got to watch what's being compared in these statistics...

[Raykr441]

What is the largest amount of votes cast in a general election?

[tomder55]

The US population is always growing ,and the most votes cast is in Presidential elections .

2008 Barack Obama had 66,862,039 popular votes cast for him ; and John McCain had 58,319,442 votes cast for him.

[abanikko]

Zonedude, Remember the equation quoted was "How much money was spent per REGISTERED VOTER". Not how many votes that investment resulted in.
Now in contrast I'll bet the amount of acutal voters would have been in the 90+% range if they knew they could have received $13.14 just for voting.

[zonedude]

abanikko: Depending on whose question you're answering... mobea stated "I still feel that they are spending more than $13 per vote somehow." istewart, in his answer to her post, then changed the equation to the per "voter" result. $26 per vote (roughly) and $13 per registered voter. Will that be agreeable?

[abanikko]

Zonedude: Yep, That'll do! I forget to watch out for things like that. How in the world did Modea come up with 11,000,000 though?

[zonedude]

I think that number showed up as a calculator error... or a misreading of the number the calculator was showing. Basically, a misplaced decimal... instead of 11 million dollars per registered voter, it was 11 dollars per eligible voter, IF the numbers given by tomder55 were correct.

[squeeniesmom]

WAIT UP!. You can't figure that $2 billion was spent on all those voters!

It was ONLY SPENT ON THE ONES THAT WEREN'T REGISTERED as Republican or Democrat because those people vote the party line regardless.

That means of the 42 million people who were undecided who actually decide the
Election, AND ONLY 90% OF REGISTERED VOTERS ACTUALLY HAVE VOTED ON AVERAGE IN THE PAST...

You have to take 90% of 42 million,and you get about 38 million voters undecided voters...

Now, divide that into the $2.22 billion spent, each voter that isn't voting straight party line, and therefore decides the election, could have been paid... WHAT?? About $1/2 million dollars a piece?

[jacka123]

Get your calculator and your head fixed mobea

[jackscarry]

An aside:
From all the numbers and calculations of dollars and voters It becomes aparant that a super rich person could simply buy the election by spending more than the other candidates combined. After all most elections are won by whoever spends the most money.
An impossible to get done suggestion:
Change the campaign financing laws so that only X dollars could be spent by any candidate per eligible to vote constituent in their House District, State and Nation, depending on the office being campaigned for.

[Earl Grunden]

How many Registered Voters are there in 2012?